Follow Our Memories
by Maresia Eterna
Summary: COMPLETE “Why did you run away?” Shin asked, but when she refused to answer, he sighed, “Kumiko, why did you run away?” “You asked me to marry you! That’s why!” *Sequel to: Stories of Ourselves*
1. Follow our Memories

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot. Also, this is based on _Gokusen 2_, but characters from _Gokusen 1_ will be present in the story. Oh, I also decided to add one or two details I found out while watching _Gokusen III._

_**Title:**_ Follow Our Memories

**Rating:** T

**Genres:** Drama, Romance, Friendship, Family, Humour, Angst

**Warnings:** Language

_**Summary:**_"Why did you run away?" Shin asked, but when she refused to answer, he sighed, "Kumiko, why did you run away?" "You asked me to marry you! That's why!"

**Authoress' Note:** This story follows **Stories of Ourselves**. It will be shorter, but I thought it would be nice to give an idea about what happened to the characters ever since they separated. This actually happens a few years after **Stories of Ourselves**. Therefore, this story happens after _Gokusen II_, and it includes characters from _Gokusen I_. I also want to apologize for the errors you'll find; since **English** is my _**second**_ language, it's rather hard for me to correct all of the mistakes that I leave on every page before posting the new chapter.

* * *

**Follow Our Memories**

"_W__elcome back, I'm home_

_I__t's alright because you are here_

_W__elcome back, sweet home_

_K__eep waiting, because I'm arriving soon_

_S__weet home"_

**Ayaka - **Okaeri

_Prologue_

How long has it been ever since they had been forced to say goodbye? How much time had passed ever since she had last written him a letter, rambling about how her new class was as troublesome as the two others she had taught before? How long ago had she had been forced to run away from him?

Approximately four years.

It was ironic though, how she feared nothing, and yet she had felt the need to run away from a twenty-two year old, and all because of one simple question… One question she had been expecting to hear all her life, but truth was that she had never expected to be his lips the ones that would utter it...

It had not been the question itself what had scared her, and she could admit that without any sort of embarrassment, but it had been the person who had asked it that had forced her body to freeze in shock, horror, astonishment, exhilaration and panic. She had always expected many things from him, but never that.

And that was why she had run away from him.

After all, how could he expect for things to work when there were so many reasons for it to go wrong? In fact, why had he even considered the possibility of something happening between the two of them, when there were so many things that simply did not fit?

He had said it himself; she was going to be their homeroom teacher forever and ever. And that was the main reason why she could not understand his behaviour. He knew that she still considered him as her student. He knew she would always see their friendship as the result of the teacher/student relationship that they had had in the past.

And that had been the reason…

That had been the 'why' behind her fleeing actions…

But no matter how many times she kept telling herself that she had done the right thing…no matter how hard she thought that their relationship could never go beyond companionship, she knew he would never forgive her.

And the worst of it all was that she knew she would never forgive herself either.

* * *

"A girlfriend? _Really?_" Yamaguchi Kumiko asked, completely flabbergasted, and Uchiyama Haruhiko hissed for her to quiet down at same time he glanced around, almost as if he wanted to make sure that no one had heard the announcement.

"Well, finally!" Kumiko laughed at Uchiyama's inhibited behaviour, but her former student sighed when he understood that she was not going to lower the tone of her voice, "I'm so happy for you! Who is she? Do I know her? Is she pretty? C'mon, tell me everything!"

"Ah, just calm down already," Uchiyama mumbled before sinking further on his chair, but Kumiko simply smiled widely at him, "Man, I don't even know why I told you about all this. I should have known you'd react like this…"

"Now it's too late for regrets," Kumiko teased still with the smile on her face, and Uchiyama sighed heavily. "So, c'mon, let's start with her name, age, and how you two met. C'mon, c'mon, don't leave me in suspense!"

"What's this? Some sort of interview?" Uchiyama asked under his breath, but when he noticed Kumiko's eager expression, he straightened up on his chair, "Her name is Hiratsuka Mizuki. She's twenty-four, and Noda was actually the one who introduced us."

"Well, Noda always had a sixth sense when it comes to romance." Kumiko pointed out, and Uchiyama chuckled, "When did you guys meet? I mean, last time I saw you, you didn't tell me anything about her."

"We've known each other for over two years now, actually." Uchiyama replied, and Kumiko's eyes widened at that, "And before you ask, it's not as if I have to tell you about who my friends are, or if I befriended someone who could possibly become my girlfriend in the future."

"Fine, fine, I won't ask anything else." Kumiko replied as she raised her hands in the air in surrender, but when Uchiyama breathed out in relief, she smiled shyly at him, "Ne, when and how did you ask her to go out with you?"

"Sorry I'm late!" a voice exclaimed suddenly, and both Kumiko and Uchiyama watched as Noda Takeshi rushed to their table before sitting down beside Uchiyama, breathing heavily. "The traffic at this hour is absolutely dreadful!"

As she watched Noda and Uchiyama talking about some random topic, Kumiko felt her smile diminish a little. Ever since she had returned from Africa that her first students had decided to come up with something that could oblige all of them to meet up once in a while. Noda had been the one to come up with the idea of them having dinner at least twice per month, and Uchiyama had decided that Friday nights' were perfect for the event.

At the beginning many had participated in it, but for a long time only Uchiyama, Noda and Kumiko herself seemed to have enough time to show up. Kumiko did not understand what had happened exactly, but she guessed that life could be greedy sometimes.

She was aware that Kumai Teruo was quite busy with his restaurant, and therefore was unable to show up, while Yabuki Hayato was active taking over his own business. He had actually surprised everyone when he had come up with the idea of joining forces with Kumai, and he quickly created a coffee-shop just beside Kumai's restaurant; they had inclusively put a door on the wall that separated their shops, and started working as a team.

After all, Hayato had been quite clever by recalling that most people enjoyed drinking some coffee after lunch, and that had been the main reason why he had decided to team up with Kumai. This way, they could help one another, and profit together.

"Oi!" a voice greeted suddenly, and Kumiko looked to her side when she heard Uchiyama and Noda greet someone. It was with a blink that she spotted Tsuchiya Hikaru and Takeda Keita standing next to her, both with wide smiles on their faces.

Despite of everything they had said and done during their time in High School, both Tsuchiya and Keita were currently studying, though the former was studying at night. Tsuchiya was in fact working at the arcade game, since the Joyful Company had decided to give him an opportunity to show if he was worthy of the job or not. For what Kumiko had heard, Tsuchiya was working at the arcade-game for almost two years.

"What are you two doing here?" was the first thing that left Kumiko's lips, and the two boys turned to her. "I thought you guys wouldn't be able to come because of school. I hope you did all of your homework before coming here."

"Aw Yankumi, have a heart, it's Friday after all." Tsuchiya replied as he walked behind his teacher, and sat down on the vacant chair next to her. Keita, on the other hand, sat beside Uchiyama after a small nod in greeting. "Let's not talk about school over dinner."

"Fine by me, Uchiyama was just telling me about his girlfriend anyway." Kumiko retorted with a small shrug, but she could not help but smile when she saw Uchiyama's mortified look. Both Tsuchiya and Keita immediately turned to the older boy, and started asking all sort of questions while Noda simply laughed at the situation.

Unfortunately, the boys were unable to tease Uchiyama for long due to the sudden appearance of the waiter, who courteously asked what they wanted. After informing the employee about what they wanted, and watched him leave, everyone turned to each others, this time in silence. A silence that was broken when Noda suddenly glanced at Kumiko, and cleared his throat.

"Yankumi, I have a question for you." he started, and the only woman sitting on that table felt her heart skipping a beat. Oh she knew the tone and the look that Noda had on his face too well… "I'll understand if you refuse to answer it, but I have to ask."

Oh dear, he was going to ask her about what had happened all those years ago. She should have known that one could only wait that much. Noda had actually surprised her for waiting so long to question her about what had happened in the past, but now everything was going to surface, and there was no way she could escape from it.

"Do you know what happened to Z?"

"W-What?" was Kumiko's bright reply, and Noda sighed before repeating the same question again, a solemn expression on his face. By now, everyone else was either gazing at Noda or staring at her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

Z-chan or Sawada Mariko, Sawada Shin's cousin…

"Ah, you want to know about Mariko-chan!" Kumiko breathed in relief, ignoring the confused looks that took over all the boys' faces, and she quickly smiled. "I was with Mariko-chan last week actually; she went to visit me, and we talked for a while."

"Say, you don't know what may be wrong with her, do you?" Noda asked before nudging Uchiyama on the arm, "Uchi and I have been trying to contact her, to see if we can talk about a few things, but she rarely replies to us and when she does, she says she's too busy to meet us."

"Well, she _is_ a university student." Kumiko stated with a short nod, and while Noda rolled his eyes, Uchiyama rested his elbows on the table. Before he could part his lips to speak, however, the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Still, I'm sure you know something that can explain her behaviour." Noda continued as Uchiyama thanked the waiter, who bowed before leaving, and this time both Tsuchiya and Keita shared a look. "You and her have been behaving quite strangely lately, and the only person who can actually explain what has been going on to us refuses to give us an explanation."

"I imagine you're referring to…Sawada." Kumiko finished, feeling a knot on her throat, and both Noda and Uchiyama nodded. "Well, I think you're just overreacting; Mariko-chan's fine, just like I am. And Sawada probably doesn't explain anything to you because there's nothing to explain."

"You can keep telling yourself that, but we know you and we know when you're lying." Uchiyama declared, and Kumiko felt her heart skip another beat, "We aren't teenagers anymore, and we both agree that something happened between you and Shin. You barely talk about him ever since you returned from Africa, and mind you that was years ago."

"T-That's not true, I do ask about him." Kumiko disagreed as she shook of her head, and both Uchiyama and Noda shared a look before turning to her while chorusing a sarcastic 'right'. "It's true!"

"Either way, we both know that something is going on around here," Noda continued as he raised a hand slightly in the air, and Kumiko rested both her hands on her lap before entwining her fingers in nervousness. "We may know not what happened between you and Shin nor about what happened to Z, but you can bet that we're going to find out."

"And you know that whenever we try to snoop, we end up finding many, many interesting things…" Uchiyama trailed off, leaving a hint of a threat hanging in the air right when the waiter returned with some of their meals.

As the boys welcomed their foods with delight, Kumiko dropped her head, her knuckles now turning white. She knew it would be foolish not to take Uchiyama's words seriously, but truth was that she did not want them to find out what had happened. She knew there was only one other person who knew about what had happened, but Kumiko knew for a fact that that same person would not say a word about it.

"You know, now that you mentioned Mariko-chan, I believe I know what's going on with her." Keita began as soon as everyone started eating, and four pair of eyes turned to him in anticipation, "And if I'm not mistaken, it involves Hayato and Ryu."

* * *

Kumiko stepped out of the restaurant, and breathed in when a fresh summer breeze blew her hair away. Uchiyama, Noda, Tsuchiya and Keita were right behind her, talking animatedly about a group of girls that had entered inside the restaurant while they were still eating. She did not mind hearing them speaking about girls, and ignoring her as they did so; she was more than used to it.

However, truth was that at the moment Kumiko could not help but wish for some company, preferably female. That way she could try to take her mind off things, especially about Sawada Shin. Only heavens knew when Noda and Uchiyama found it necessary to mention the said young adult every time they opened their mouths to say something.

Ah, all she wanted was to talk to someone about something that did not involved Sawada Shin!

"Alright, I don't know what about you guys, but I'm going home." Kumiko finally spoke up as she twirled around to face the four young men who were still talking excitedly behind her, but they quieted down a little at her announcement. "It was nice seeing you again, Tsuchiya, Takeda; I hope school isn't too rough."

"Bah, if we managed to survive when you were our teacher, then everything else is piece of cake." Tsuchiya joked, but Kumiko simply raised an eyebrow at his words before slapping him not so gently on the arm.

"Thank you for the company, Yankumi." Keita said in his tender tone, and Kumiko was unable to resist, and she smiled sweetly at him. "I hope we can do this again soon. I never knew how much I missed this until tonight."

"All in due time, all in due time…" Noda replied with a short nod, and Keita turned to him before returning the nod, "But that doesn't mean we can't meet on the meantime, and go for a coffee or something."

"We can always go visit Hayato one of these days," Tsuchiya nodded, and everyone immediately started talking about that idea, except for Kumiko, who was watching her students interacting. It was nice to see that despite of the age difference, they managed to get along quite well.

"Well guys, like I said, it's time for me to go home." Kumiko announced again, and the four young men turned to her again, "Don't stay out for too long even though it's Friday night. Uchiyama, remember your mother is waiting for you at home, and Noda, you have some to study for some exams, don't you?"

"Yes, mum." both young men chorused, which resulted in Kumiko punching them not-so-lightly on their arms while both Tsuchiya and Keita chuckled.

"Stop teasing me, or else…" Kumiko raised her fist as she trailed off, but she smiled when both Noda and Uchiyama sighed before nodding, "Great! Just make sure you don't get into any sort of trouble. I'll see you guys later!"

After biding farewell, Kumiko started walking around, her smile vanishing as each new step took her further away from her former students. No matter how hard she tried, she just could not forget the moment when both Noda and Uchiyama had tried to find out why she had not been asking about Shin for a while. She wondered what they would do if they were ever to find out the truth…

They would probably either applaud her for her decision, or simply start talking among one another about Shin's question. Well, all-in-all, she did not like any of those possible outcomes so she guessed she would have to try harder to behave as if nothing special had happened.

Although that was definitely easier said than done…

"Why can't things go right for once?" Kumiko groaned as she walked around a corner, and breathed in relief when she noticed that she was getting closer to her house. All she wanted was to throw herself to her bed, and sleep. Yes, because at least in her dreams she did not feel as awful as she did when awaked, even though deep down she knew she had done the right decision.

She _had_ done the right decision…right?

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Our Secret Whispers

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my characters and the plot. Also, this is based on _Gokusen 2_, but characters from _Gokusen 1_ will be present in the story. Oh, I also decided to add one or two details I found out while watching _Gokusen III._

* * *

I want to thank **blueprincess16**, **lhotshot83**, **quanhottie**, **Youko-Kuramas-Kitsune**, **NausicA**, **Mizuki hikari** _and_ **cra-z-stephie**for everything, but especially for giving this sequel a chance. I hope you enjoy this as much as you enjoyed **Stories of Ourselves**. Thank you for everything!!

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**Chapter 1**

_Our __Secret Whispers_

Even though the night had arrived with a warm breeze, rain had surprised everyone by falling impertinently and without any sort of forewarning. Due to the sudden change of the weather, people could now be seen running through the streets, trying desperately to escape from the merciless rain.

Among the crowd was a twenty-two year old girl, holding two books against her chest as she struggled to find a safe refugee. Her clothes were completely soaked, and her hair was already dripping; it looked as if she had decided to take a bath without taking her clothes off first.

Finally spotting a bus-stop, the girl managed to squeeze herself between those who were waiting for the bus before shivering when the wind blew from east. Slowly she took her rectangle shaped glasses off, and tried to clean them as best as she could with her shirt, which proved to be pointless because she was completely drenched.

With a sigh, she gave up trying to do something about her glasses, and she put them back on their rightful place. As expected, she barely managed to see a thing in front of her, but as she waited for the rain to calm down a little, the girl took her mp3 from her sodden shoulder bag, and put the earphones on.

Suddenly, a bus appeared from her left side, and the girl pushed her books even closer to her chest as people bumped into her in their rush to enter inside of the vehicle. However, a large woman ended up colliding with her a bit too harshly, causing the girl to drop her books in surprise.

With an annoyed sigh, the girl bent down to grab her books, but closed her eyes when she shuddered due to a shiver that run down her spine again. She just hoped she was not going end up getting sick after all that. She was usually quite fond of rain, but truth to be told she preferred to watch it fall from heavens through the window of her room, preferably dressed in her comfortable pyjamas…

"Aw man…" the girl groaned to herself when she noticed that her books were damaged from the rain and from falling to the ground. As music continued blasting from the earphones, she watched as the bus started moving forward until it disappeared in the rain. Since she was finally all by herself, the girl stepped even further inside the bus-stop, hoping to get away from the raindrops that continued to fall brutally from the dark sky.

Perhaps it was time for her to go in search for a taxi; there was no way she could just stay there, waiting for the rain to stop. By look of things if she decided to wait, she would probably end up staying in there for quite some time, and she could not afford that; but…to find courage to step outside the bus-stop again…

"It's not as if I'm not alright soaked…" the girl mumbled to herself before running a hand through her wet hair, but when she gave the first step forward, a small scream left her lips when a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of her, holding a black umbrella. "Hayato! Don't do that! You know I hate it when you sneak up on me!"

"You're the one who didn't hear me calling your name five times!" the boy scolded as he yanked an earphone from the girl's ear, an irritated look on his face. "Now I understand why you didn't hear me. Damn it, Mariko!"

"What? I didn't do anything!" the girl protested as she took the other earphone off, and she quickly turned her mp3 off before putting it inside of her bag. "It's not my fault I was trying to forget the fact I'm dripping wet."

"Just shut up, and follow me." Hayato retorted, and before Mariko could even part her lips to speak, he grabbed her wrist, and pulled her forward so that they could share the umbrella. Before Mariko knew it, Hayato was opening the door of his car for her to enter.

"I thought you were still working," Mariko commented when Hayato turned the engine on before pushing some black locks of hair away from his eyes. When he simply started driving, she entitled her head to the side. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, you're damaging my seat." Hayato answered back before looking at the backseat, and before Mariko knew it, a black coat was resting on her lap. "Put that on, and you better not get sick you idiot."

Ah yes, Yabuki Hayato's sweet side was finally kicking in, amiably as always. Constantly watching over his friends, and never stopping himself from showing how much he truly cared for them. Mariko guessed that behaviour had started as soon as high school had ended, forcing everyone to go their different ways, carrying promises on their shoulders.

With a faint smile on her lips, Mariko pulled the coat higher so that she was completely covered by it up to her neck. Thankfully it did not take too long for Hayato to park close to her apartment, and they quickly run inside the building since rain was still falling mercilessly from the sinister heavens.

"You go take a shower; I'm going to prepare some tea." Hayato announced as soon as Mariko opened the door of her apartment, but when she was about to say something, Hayato shut her up by pushing her towards the bathroom. "Don't you dare to leave without being fully clothed! I have no need to develop traumas at this point."

"Well, for that I'm going to need clothes." Mariko pointed out as she slowly opened the door of the bathroom, Hayato's coat now hanging on her shoulders, and the boy scoffed at her behaviour before turning to the stove. "And are you sure it's alright to…?"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll actually try to cook something." Hayato interrupted, and Mariko winced at the possible punishment as she rushed to her closet from where she took what she needed before running back to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. With a small shake of his head, Hayato turned to the kitchenette, and started looking for the kettle.

Meanwhile, Mariko could not help but moan in delight when the hot water from the shower hit her cold skin. She absolutely loved that sensation, and she probably would have taken longer to bath if it was not for the fact that Yabuki Hayato had taken over her kitchenette, and was actually trying to do something with the stove.

Now, Sawada Mariko trusted Hayato with her life, but she did not trust him around a stove. The guy simply did not have what as needed to work in a kitchen, even though he did manage to help at Kumai's restaurant in the past…with Kumai relentlessly behind him, telling him which step he was to follow next.

Slowly, the sensation that the warm water was constantly embracing her faded away as Mariko recalled why Hayato and she had become such great friends. And truth was that she did not enjoy thinking about it; after all, the reason for her and Hayato's closer connection involved Odagiri Ryu and an unexpected trip to Canada.

With a sigh, Mariko forced herself to leave the bathtub, and quickly take care of her hair before dressing in her black and white pyjamas. When she was just about to open the door of the bathroom, the doorbell rang, and Mariko heard Hayato yell that he would get it. Hastily, Mariko grabbed a towel that she quickly put over her shoulders, underneath her damp hair, and opened the door of the bathroom.

"Who is it?" she asked still adjusting the towel, but when silence was the only thing that answered her, Mariko looked at Hayato, who was right in front of her since the door was across from the bathroom, and froze.

Still standing outside the door was someone Mariko had not expected to see so soon, much less so abruptly… On the other side of the doorway was the person that constantly haunted her thoughts, no matter how hard she tried to burry those memories…

On the other side of the door, standing in the hall, staring back at her was non-other that Odagiri Ryu himself.

* * *

As a smile graced her features, Kumiko watched a group of children playing in the playground, laughing and shouting at each others. Some of them were running after a small ball, in what Kumiko believed to be a football game or at least something that was suppose to resemble to one.

Slowly, her mind replaced the scene in front of her by another one; one that belonged to her memories. In this scene, Kumiko was watching a class of twenty dark-skinned children running around through the village, laughter following their scrawny forms. There was no ball in that picture, but there was a lot of cheerfulness and camaraderie.

Kumiko could almost feel the hot wind kissing her features as she continued to watch the children playing tag, but her reverie was shattered when someone suddenly called her name. Gradually, the dark-skinned children faded away, and were replaced by the Japanese offspring that was playing in the playground.

Only the warm breeze remained, almost as if to taunt her…

"Oi, Yamaguchi!"

"A-Ah! Hello Yabuki!" Kumiko greeted as she finally looked away from the children, and she stood up from the wooden bench when she spotted her former student walking towards her. "Thank you for coming."

"If you want to thank someone, then thank Kumai-san's family, because if they hadn't agreed to watch over the shop, I wouldn't be here." Hayato replied, and Kumiko quickly nodded in understanding. "What do you want anyway? I don't have much time."

"May I at least ask you how you've been?" Kumiko questioned as she sat down on the bench again, and Hayato looked away with a sigh before mimicking her actions, sitting down next to her. "We haven't seen each other for over a month."

"I've been busy," Hayato replied as he stuck his hands inside his pants' pockets, and Kumiko looked down, "But I'm fine. I haven't been able to go to the dinners because of work, but what about you? Managed to survive another school year, I see."

"Of course, if I survived to your and Sawada's classes, why wouldn't I be able to endure this one as well?" Kumiko inquired, but Hayato simply looked away with a smirk before gazing at her, silently asking her why she had asked him to meet her there. "Ah, right, straight to the point, sorry. I was just wondering if you've heard anything about Odagiri and Mariko-chan."

"Mariko's alright, I guess, I was with her two days ago." Hayato answered with a small shrug, and Kumiko nodded. "As for Ryu…well, if you must know, he has returned from Canada. Tsk, the bastard didn't even bother to call to tell us that he was coming."

"What? Odagiri has returned to Japan?" Kumiko asked in surprise, and Hayato glanced sideways at her before nodding, "But that's great! How is he? Have you guys talked? Did he tell you what he thought of Canada?"

"Like I said, Ryu returned two days ago." Hayato repeated as he stared at the playground, Kumiko watching him with interest. "As for us talking…well, I wouldn't call it talking, but whatever."

"You wouldn't call it talk—" Kumiko trailed off when she understood the meaning behind her former student's words, and she gaped at him. "Did you guys get into a fight?"

"That's none of your business." Hayato answered in a monotone, but when Kumiko stood up from the bench he turned his head in order to look at her, "Listen, Ryu and I had some issues we had to take care of, so don't bother to lecture me."

"Don't bother to…Yabuki!" Kumiko reprimanded in her strong voice, but the said boy simply rested his elbows on his knees before he decided to get up as well. "He finally returned from Canada after four years, and you've already fought! What happened?"

"Now that's undoubtedly none of your business," Hayato responded as he rested his hands inside his pants' pockets again, but Kumiko simply continued to stare at him completely astounded. "I know you just want to help, but this time there's no reason for you to do that."

"Yabuki!" Kumiko called out when the boy was just about to turn around, and she grabbed his wrist without even blinking. Slowly, Hayato turned his head to her again, "We promised, remember? We promised we'd talk to each others if anything went wrong."

"Sorry, Yankumi, but this isn't your problem." Hayato answered with a strange expression on his face, "Besides, why don't you think about solving your own problems for a second? I mean, you seriously must have something to fix ever since you returned from Africa."

"What?" Kumiko asked in disbelief, and she immediately let go off Hayato's wrist, "What do you mean by that? I have nothing to take care of!" a small pause, and Kumiko widened her eyes in horror as she stared at Hayato in the eyes, "Can it be…? Did Mariko-chan…?"

"Mar didn't tell me anything." Hayato quickly interrupted Kumiko's ramble, and the woman stared at him, "She did say you have something you should take care of as soon as possible, but she never told me what, and neither did I ask. And that's something you should learn; don't ask when you know that people don't want to tell you anything."

"I…"

"Still, it's not as if I needed Mariko to tell me that something's troubling you," Hayato continued, and Kumiko closed her lips as she continued to watch him staring at some random point in front of him, "Everyone has noticed how weird you've been behaving lately. Most of us believe it has something to do with your trip to Africa, but like I said, that's none of my business."

Good grief, since when had she become so easy to read?

"But hey, if Mariko knows what's going on, and you _do_ look as if you need someone to talk to, why don't you go to her?" Hayato asked suddenly, and Kumiko snapped from her thoughts in time to see him snort. "Man, never thought I'd be the one giving you advice…"

"Hey, don't get all big-headed when I'm around!" Kumiko warned, but Hayato simply smirked at her before raising two fingers, and do the rabbit ears. "Fine, go, leave me all alone. See if I care!"

"Yankumi, you're not dying, so don't behave so overdramatically." Hayato recommended as he turned to her, and started walking backwards, hands resting safely inside his pockets. "Remember, you look cuter when you're completely out of your mind."

"Hey!" Kumiko shouted but Hayato simply laughed at her before turning around, and start running away. "I'll get you for that, Yabuki! You just wait!"

Since she knew that Hayato was not going to look over his shoulder anymore, Kumiko allowed for her smile to vanish, and she sat down on the bench again, hands resting on her lap. She had never, ever, considered herself as someone who was easy to read, but it seemed that as years rolled by she was becoming terrible in masking her feelings.

"Don't tell me…" Kumiko suddenly rested the palm of her hands against her cheeks, and her eyes widened in horror, "Ah! I'm getting old!! Ah! The horror!"

"Yankumi-san?" a voice asked hesitantly, and Kumiko instantaneously turned to her side only to drop her hands when she noticed who it was, "Hum…am I interrupting something?"

"N-no, not at all," Kumiko replied before laughing nervously at same time she tapped the empty spot next to her, "You're carrying a lot of books today. Why don't you sit down for a little bit? Ah, and you actually just missed Yabuki!"

"Thank you," Mariko thanked as she sat down, the pile of heavy books now resting on her lap, and she sighed in relief before turning to the math teacher beside her. "I just missed Hayato, you said? He was here?"

"Yes, but apparently he was late for work so he had to run for it." Kumiko quickly elaborated, and Mariko nodded in reply. "But tell me, why are you carrying all of those books? Did you decide to robber a library or something?"

"Oh, no, I just needed some information to study for an exam." Mariko started explaining as she rested a hand on top of the pile of books, "I guess I've become addicted to creative writing, and I just can't stop studying about it. Either that, or my Literature teacher knows exactly what to do in order to make us love books."

"Ah, reading is a fantastic hobby, or so I'm told." Kumiko pointed out, but Mariko simply chuckled, "I must admit I never enjoying reading that much though. Literature was never my forte, which explains why I'm a math teacher."

"I can lend you a book if you want." Mariko started, and Kumiko blinked, "Just tell me which genre you prefer, and I'll see if I can find one that hopefully you'll enjoy. Unless…well, I can always try to find out one about the yakuza…"

"Well, let me think about it, and then I'll let you know if I have the time to read it or not." Kumiko quickly answered, and Mariko nodded in agreement. "By the way, Yabuki mentioned that Odagiri has returned from Canada. Have you seen him? Yabuki told me they already got into a fight."

"Oh, Ryu…" Mariko whispered the boy's name as she looked down, and Kumiko entitled her head slightly in confusion, "I…yes, I've seen Ryu, but don't worry, Hayato and he…they didn't get into a physical fight…much."

"Much? What do you mean by that?" Kumiko asked before crossing her arms against her chest, "I always thought that once they were out of High School they would know how to behave. I now see I was being naïve for believing in that."

"Err…I meant that Ryu…well, Hayato almost punched him, but fortunately he missed, and since Ryu isn't a big fan of fights…" Mariko trailed off before looking away from her books to stare at Kumiko, and smile faintly at him, "Don't worry about it. Everything will work out; they are best friends, ne?"

"I guess…" Kumiko mumbled, and she suddenly recalled something, "Ah! I was with Noda and Uchiyama two days ago, and they were asking me about you. Please, trying answering their calls or their messages, okay? They were really worried about you."

"I guess some things have kept me rather busy lately…" Mariko admitted in a guilty tone, but Kumiko simply rested a hand on her shoulder. After smiling at the teacher one last time, Mariko grabbed her books again, and stood up from the bench, "Well, I better go."

"Sure, good luck with your exams." Kumiko replied also with a smile on her face, and Mariko nodded before turning to her side, but after three steps she stopped. Then, she turned to Kumiko again, who looked back at her in confusion.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you about something." Mariko started, but Kumiko simply continued staring at her, "Shin has called, and apparently he's going to return in a week. I thought you deserved to know, despite of everything that happened between you two."

"Say _what?_"

**To Be Continued…**


	3. The Promise We Pledged

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my characters and the plot. Also, this is based on _Gokusen 2_, but characters from _Gokusen 1_ will be present in the story. Oh, I also decided to add one or two details I found out while watching _Gokusen III._

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I want to thank **cra-z-stephie**, **lhotshot83**, **Faith Slays**, **Youko-Kuramas-Kitsune**, **blueprincess16**, **Azalie-Kauriu**, **darkenedcrystal**, **rainbow-kitten91**_ and_ **carms-lian0592** for giving _Follow Our Memories _a chance. I hope you guys keep enjoying this story.

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_**Note: **_Some of you have been asking me if I'm going to add characters from _Gokusen III _to this story. The answer is yes, but it is only going to be _one_ character, and that is linked to Kuma. Actually, all possible spoilers that you'll find here have to do with our dear Kuma, and hopefully you won't kill me when you read them (in case you don't already know). Also, just in case some of you are wondering, Shin will show up soon. I'm not going to reveal when; but it will be soon! Thank you, and enjoy the new chapter!

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**Chapter ****2**

_The Promise We Pledged_

As a sigh escaped from his lips, Odagiri Ryu leaned his head against the headboard of his bed, and stared at the white wall in front of him. Next to his hip, lying noiselessly on the mattress was his cell-phone. On the bedside table was a small radio, from where faint music was coming, constantly challenging the silence that had settled in his bedroom.

His mother had just walked in with something for him to eat, and she had even tried to start a conversation, which ended as a failure since Ryu was simply in no mood to talk. Thankfully, his mother understood his silent actions, and had decided to leave him alone while whispering that she would be downstairs in case he needed anything.

His father was not at home, though, and for that Ryu was grateful. Ever since he had returned, that Ryu prayed not to face his father any time soon; after all, it had been him who had showed up one day, with a one-way ticket in his hand. Odagiri Shinya had not even allowed his son to encounter his friends one last time before departing.

Instead, Ryu had been forced to rush to Kumai's restaurant, and meet Hayato there in order to request something. However, after four years, Ryu could not help but regret his actions that day; had he known how things would turn out, he would have never bothered to go talk to Hayato on the first place.

Suddenly, a familiar song filled the air, and Ryu immediately turned his radio off. He definitely was in no mood to listen to the song he had once sung at karaoke. The song he had sung to the only girl he had ever allowed to break his walls…

After making sure that his radio was turned off, Ryu lay down on the mattress, and grasped his cell-phone only to stare at it for a long time. Many were the times when he would grab the phone, and simply look at it, wondering if he should search for a familiar number. However, every time he had been about to press the button to call that person, Ryu would force himself to hung up even before the phone could ring.

On the first night in Japan after his return, the person in question had tried to reach him through calls and messages, but Ryu had ignored them all. He just did not know what he could do after everything that had happened…after everything he saw…

Suddenly, almost as if he had gotten burned, Ryu let go of the cell-phone, which fell on the mattress again without making one single sound. A new sigh left his lips as he closed his eyes, and tried to rest against the comfortable sheets, but truth was that while his limbs started relaxing, his mind started functioning at full speed.

"_I need to ask you something, but you can't tell anyone about this."_

_"What's going on? And…did you get here by taxi?"_

_"Shut up, and listen. I… My father is sending me to Canada, and I—"_

"_What? When did that happen? I thought your father had accepted to let you live your life!"_

_"Hayato, will you please listen to me? I don't have much time. I…I wanted to ask you if you could…if you could keep an eye on Mariko for me."_

_"What are you talking about? Oh wait, she's not even here! Didn't you at least call her, telling her about what was going on?"_

"_No, and it's exactly because I don't know if I'll be able to talk to her that I'm asking you…promise me you'll look after her for me."_

"_This doesn't make any sense, but fine, I promise."_

When those words echoed through his mind, Ryu forced himself to open his eyes, and stare at the white ceiling. Now that he was actually thinking about it, he seriously could not explain why he had asked Hayato to look after Mariko; after all, it was not as if they were going out or something.

But yet…despite of everything he could not understand how things had come to that. Heck, he did not even understand exactly what had happened…all he could remember was what he had said and what he had felt.

Suddenly there was a knock, and Ryu unhurriedly sat on his bed again. Then, even before he had the chance to tell whoever that was outside to walk in, the door was opened only to reveal a familiar face.

"Yosh."

"Take." Ryu mumbled at the sight of his old friend, who had waved and smiled at him in a silent greeting, "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I heard from Tsuchi, who heard from Hayato, that you were back." Keita started as he walked inside, closing the door behind him, "Tsuchi and Kosuke wanted to come too, but they had to go work so I decided to come alone."

"Ah, thank you." was all Ryu managed to come up with, but Keita simply continued smiling at him, which forced Ryu to continue, "Did something happen?"

"Not really, I just decided to check on you." Keita answered with a small shrug as he continued standing, "After all, you haven't said anything ever since you returned. If it hadn't been for Tsuchi, I wouldn't even be aware that you were back."

"Sorry, I've been…busy..." Ryu trailed off, and Keita shrugged again before reaching out for the chair that was beside the closet, and sit down, "I was going to call you, but…things just kept showing up."

"Nah, don't worry about it, everyone has been rather busy lately." Keita started as he waved a hand, silently dismissing his friend's apology, "And some have been behaving quite strangely as well."

"Strangely?" Ryu repeated as he raised an eyebrow slightly, and Keita nodded in agreement, "Who has been behaving strangely?"

"Yankumi, for starters, and then there's Mariko-chan…"

At the last name, Ryu looked away. It seemed that no matter what he did, he would always end up thinking or talking about Sawada Mariko. And along with Mariko's name came…

"Hayato has been trying to help her, but she's still acting a bit weirdly." Keita finished, and Ryu mentally sighed. Yes, apparently every time Mariko was mentioned, Hayato's name was always close by.

"Say, have you told Mariko-chan that you're back?" Keita inquired suddenly as he rested his elbows on his legs, "Maybe you can try to figure out what's going on. I mean, it's already worrying that Yankumi's hiding something, but Mariko-chan…well, I wish I could help her…"

"She knows I'm here, yes," Ryu answered with a short nod, but he looked away when a wide smile unexpectedly graced Keita's features, "but we didn't talk. Besides, I'm sure Hayato knows exactly what to do to make her talk."

"But you know, I think Mariko-chan would probably feel more at easy if she talked to you." Keita commented before glancing down at his watch, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Ah! I'm late! Maki-chan is going to kill me!"

"Maki-chan?" Ryu repeated, but instead of answering, Keita swiftly stood up from the chair, mumbling all sort of things before announcing that he truly had to leave.

In a matter of seconds, Ryu found himself staring at the closed door of his bedroom, now completely alone. For a moment, he wondered if Keita and Maki were now going out. Heavens, he had missed so many things…

Suddenly, his cell-phone rang, indicating that he had just received a message, and Ryu grabbed it with a sigh. As he laid his head against his pillow again, Ryu stared at the cell-phone's screen, and silently read the message.

_«I hope you're alright. I'm sorry for any trouble I may have caused. Please, take care of yourself. Ah and…I'm glad you're back, so…welcome back. »_

Mariko…

Carefully, Ryu rested his cell-phone on his stomach, his left arm now resting behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Another sigh eventually left his lips as his mind started swimming in memories and past feelings.

Yes, too many things had changed …

* * *

Only two hours had passed ever since that meeting had started, and Kumiko had to admit that she had taken an immediate liking towards Hiratsuka Mizuki, who was a very attention-grabbing person. She was someone who was studying theatre, had a nice presence, and who had a rich laughter and a peculiar way of observing things. She had a gentle yet strong personality which was exactly the thing Kumiko knew that could balance with Uchiyama's explosive and impulsive character.

When she had commented that she was also interested in math, Kumiko had only thought that Mizuki was simply perfect for Uchiyama. Of course that Kumiko would never tell her former student about her opinion, but that definitely did not stop her from having a very long and motivating conversation with Mizuki.

"…then he fell on his face, and when he looked up at me, completely covered in mud, he started cursing about the fact that that had not been the way he had planned to ask me to go out with him." Mizuki finished, and Kumiko immediately started laughing on top of her lungs while Uchiyama covered his face in embarrassment. "He looked so mortified that I didn't have the courage to say no."

"That sounds like Uchiyama alright!" Kumiko laughed as she rested a hand against her stomach, and she ignored the glare that Uchiyama sent her at her words. "Boy, I just wish I had been around to watch that scene!"

"Don't use me as entertainment." Uchiyama growled under his breath, but Kumiko simply glanced at him before bursting out laughing again, and the young man sighed before turning to Mizuki. "Why did you tell her about that?"

"Well, she did ask…" Mizuki trailed off, the corner of her lips curling up into an amused smile, but Uchiyama simply shook his head. "I never meant to embarrass you, but it's not my fault you look so cute when you're annoyed."

"I _don't_ look cute when I'm annoyed." Uchiyama corrected, and Kumiko amusingly watched as Mizuki nudged the young man on his side. "And don't tell her anything else. Only heavens know when she may use it to bride me."

"Ah, now I'm hurt." Kumiko started before she could stop herself, and the two university students looked at her, "I'd never use that to bride you, Uchiyama; I have all those memories from Shirokin for that."

"Man, where's Noda when you need him?" Uchiyama grunted suddenly as he glanced at the front door of the restaurant, and Kumiko took the opportunity to share a knowing look with Mizuki. Yep, Hiratsuka Mizuki was definitely someone with whom Kumiko planned on being friends with.

"Look who I found on my way here!" a voice greeted suddenly, and the three adults looked to their side only to see Noda walking towards them as he waved, Tsuchiya and Kosuke following him in silence. "Since they're on their lunch break, I thought they could come join us."

"Tsuchiya! Hyuuga!" Kumiko exclaimed in surprise, and the two boys waved in greeting as they stopped beside the table, "Come, sit, we were just waiting for Noda, but you're always welcome."

"I was beginning to think we weren't, actually." Tsuchiya stated as he sat down beside Kumiko at same time he closed his white fan, Kosuke sitting on the other side of his former teacher, "I mean; we never know when these lunches or dinners are going to take place. If it weren't for Take, we sure would never show up."

"You're the ones who are always working." Kumiko pointed out as she glanced from Tsuchiya to Kosuke, "Besides, if you remember, it took us a long time to make sure you guys had a job. So don't blame me for not wanting to give you any chance to become too relaxed about your work."

"Excuses, I say." Kosuke spoke suddenly, but when Kumiko opened her mouth to retort, he continued. "But it's alright; we're already used to it, so don't make a fuss out of this. What about paying for our lunches as a way of showing your regret?"

"Hey, I'm not a walking bank you know?" Kumiko asked in outrage, but she turned to Tsuchiya, when she heard him chuckle. "I'm not paying for your lunches. I had enough of that back when you were in high school."

"Aw c'mon Yankumi, for the sake of the old times…" Tsuchiya said with a smile on his face, "Besides, Noda said you were the one who prepared this meeting, therefore you're the one who should pay it."

"Hey, now that you mention that…"

"Don't you even think about it!" Kumiko interrupted as she glared at Noda, who simply chuckled at her facial expression, while Uchiyama tried to hide his grin by covering his mouth with a hand. "Man, you ought to stop teasing me."

"Oh, but it's so much fun." Kosuke confessed with a sly smile, but he started laughing when Kumiko turned to him, looking completely shocked by his words. "Ah Yamaguchi, really, you need to stop taking things so seriously. We're just messing around with you."

"Yeah, pretty much like you used to do with us." Tsuchiya agreed with a small chuckle, and before Kumiko could say a word in self-defence, Noda and Uchiyama started laughing as well. Mizuki, on the other hand, was watching everyone with an amused smile on her face.

"Ah, stop doing that!" Kumiko complained before nudging both Tsuchiya and Kosuke with her elbows, but the corner of her lips were already curling upwards. "C'mon, don't tease your teacher especially when we have guests among us."

"It's payback time." Uchiyama announced, obviously referring to the time when Kumiko had laughed at him, but the math teacher simply shook her head before focusing her attention on Mizuki, and sigh.

"Can you imagine me dealing with these guys for three months?" she asked, and a small giggle abandoned Mizuki's lips. "Sometimes I wonder how I managed to survive to all this. These guys can be so pushy when they want to."

"You shouldn't be talking about being pushy, Yamaguchi." Kosuke observed with a wide smile on his face, "After all, you weren't so different from us back then."

"Anyway!" Noda exclaimed suddenly, and everyone quieted down as they turned to him, "Z finally sent me a text-message, informing me that Shin is going to return. So I was wondering…what do you guys think about a party?"

"I'd say you're just looking for an excuse not to study." Kumiko replied almost immediately, but Noda simply smiled widely at her, "Besides, how do you want to make a party for him when you don't even know when he's going to arrive?"

"Ah, a welcoming party doesn't have to be exactly on the same day Shin arrives." Noda explained as he made a few gestures with his right hand in the air, "I just thought it was a good idea, since we haven't seen him for a while."

"Well, you can count on me." Uchiyama answered with a short nod, "We can even go karaoke. Either that or we can go to some place to eat, and then just go for a walk or something."

"Why don't you prepare something in your house?" Mizuki questioned suddenly, "This way you guys can talk, eat, and spend a nice time with Sawada-san without any sort of problems. You could also prepare something that he likes."

"Well, you forget that we don't know how to cook that well." Noda confessed, and Kumiko had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. To be honest, she had been expecting to hear one of them admit that he knew how to cook, but apparently they were all hopeless in the kitchen.

"And the only woman who could possibly give us a hand is even worse than us when it comes to cooking." Uchiyama added, and Kumiko immediately nodded in agreement before noticing that everyone was staring at her.

"A-Ah, wait! You were talking about me?!" Kumiko asked as she pointed to herself, but her former students simply started snickering at her behaviour while Mizuki watched them, an amused smile on her lips. "Ah! Stop teasing your teacher!"

"Does that mean you're coming?" Noda inquired suddenly, and Kumiko blinked at his question. Before she had the time to answer, however, Noda turned to Tsuchiya and Kosuke, "You guys are invited as well. Make sure you let the rest of the guys know about it."

"Oi, Mizuki, do you want to come too?" Kumiko asked as she turned to the young woman sitting across from her, "It would be good to have other girls at the party as well; it would be a nice change. We could ask Mariko-chan to go as well."

"Well, I…"

"There's no need to ask my girl to go," Uchiyama announced before wrapping an arm around Mizuki's shoulders, a smirk on his face, "On contrary of you, she's actually a fantastic cook. She'll probably help us more than you."

"Haruhiko…" Mizuki whispered, and Kumiko would have scolded her former student if it had not been for the fact that Mizuki had blushed various shades of pink at Uchiyama's words. "Don't talk like that about your teacher. I'm sure you're overreacting."

"Yeah, yeah, you ask Shin when you see him. He'll vouch for us." Uchiyama replied before squeezing his girlfriend lightly since he was still holding her around the shoulders. "But…do you wanna come give us a hand?"

"I guess I could go…" Mizuki started, sounding a bit hesitant, and she started glancing at everyone around her, "If no one minds…"

"If you know how to cook, you're more than welcome to show up." Tsuchiya replied, and the rest of the boys immediately started nodding in agreement, which forced Mizuki to blush again while Uchiyama smiled at her.

Kumiko, on the other hand, looked away as the rest of her students started talking about Shin's welcome party. Deep down she wanted to go, mainly because the party meant that everyone would get together again, and she would be able to see her students, but to go also meant to see Shin again.

If she went to that party, she would probably give an idea that she did not want to give…

"Oi, Yamaguchi," Kosuke called-out suddenly, and the math teacher snapped from her thoughts to look at him, "You're coming as well, ne? These guys are telling us that you and Sawada were _extremely_ close…"

"A-Ah, I…" Kumiko glanced at both Noda and Uchiyama, who were silently waiting for her reply, and she mentally sighed. "I guess I could go…if nothing shows up, of course. So…count on me, and Mizuki-chan, if you need help, please let me know."

"No!" both Noda and Uchiyama shouted all of a sudden, surprising everyone, and they quickly turned to the girl who was sitting in-between them, "Don't ever tell Yankumi that you need help in the kitchen."

"Hey, stop that!" Kumiko exclaimed with a serious look on her face, and once again everyone started laughing at her actions. Everyone, except for Kumiko, who looked down when she noticed that no one was watching her.

She could not help but have a bad feeling about that party.

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Our Footsteps in Sand

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing.

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I want to thank **cra-z-stephie**,**blueprincess16**, **lhotshot83**, **rainbow-kitten91** _and_ **Kanae92** for everything. You guys have been awesome with me, and I really hope I won't disappoint you. Also, something will happen in this chapter that hopefully you'll enjoy. Thank you!!

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**Chapter ****3**

_Our Footsteps in Sand_

_He had been looking out for the tea bags when someone knocked on the door. Since Mariko had yet to leave the bathroom, he quickly announced he was going to open the door before taking his jacket off, and throw it towards the black sofa. Then, with quick steps, he approached the front door of the apartment, and opened it._

_Truth to be told, he had been expecting to see anyone except for the person that was standing in front of him, looking as surprised as he did._

"_Ryu…"_

_"Hayato…"_

"_Who is it?" __Mariko asked as she walked out of the bathroom, still adjusting the towel that she had on her shoulders, but Hayato was unable to answer as he continued staring at his best friend. Ryu, on the other hand, glanced at Mariko, an inexpressive expression on his face._

_A pregnant silence was all that followed Mariko's words as the three young adults stared at each others. Slowly, Hayato glanced at the girl over his shoulder, and noticed how she was staring at Ryu. Without thinking twice about what he was doing, Hayato turned to Ryu, and pulled him to the hall, ignoring the fact he had forgotten to close the door on his way out._

"_When did you arrive?" Hayato asked in a low tone at same time he let go off Ryu's sleeve, "Haven't you heard about a phone? What about e-mails?"_

_When Ryu said nothing, Hayato grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled his friend forward. When he spoke again, his voice was tight and strong._

"_Did you come all this way just to give me the silent treatment?" Hayato hissed in irritation, but Ryu simply glanced at the open door of Mariko's apartment, which only angered Hayato even more._

_It was then that Hayato looked at the open door, and saw Mariko standing there, watching them with worry written all over her face. Suddenly, Hayato realised what Ryu was most likely thinking about and quickly turned to his best friend again._

"_You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking." Hayato warned still in the same tone of voice and Ryu focused his attention on him again, "Because if you are, then you're being a complete idiot."_

"_Or perhaps I'm being realistic."_

_  
"Stop it!" Mariko practically shouted, her voice echoing through the empty hall, and Hayato turned to her while Ryu glazed at her. "What do you think you two are doing?"_

_At those words, Hayato felt fury pulsating through his veins, and before he knew it, he tried to punch Ryu right on his cheek. His friend, probably aware of what he was going to do, quickly stepped backwards, avoiding being hit. Still unable to control himself, Hayato prepared himself to raise his fist again when Mariko appeared from behind him, and grabbed his arm._

_It was then that Ryu suddenly turned his back to his friends, and started walking away. Hayato quickly turned his head to his other side, but instead of calling out for his friend, he simply watched Ryu descending the stairs until he was out of sight._

"Hayato!" a voice shouted all of a sudden, and the said boy snapped from his thoughts when he felt a hand holding his wrist. "What do you think you're doing? That's salt!"

"W-What?" Hayato asked in confusion as he looked away from the five fingers that were still grasping his wrist to gaze at the girl who was standing next to him, shaking her head. "What's salt?"

"I told you three times to stop, but you didn't hear me." Mariko started as she finally dropped her hand, "I told you the sugar was the one with the red lit. You just put salt on the cookies, and didn't even notice."

"What?" Hayato asked again before gazing down at what he had started preparing, and quickly put the salt down before gazing at Mariko again. "Oi, if you noticed that I was putting salt, why didn't you stop me sooner?"

"I tried, but you didn't listen." the girl admitted, and a sigh quickly left her lips, "I should have known it was a bad idea to let you bake cookies. Why don't you go settle the table or something?"

"What? You're kicking me out?" Hayato asked in surprise, and he quickly rested the back of his hand on his forehead, in an overdramatic pose, "Oh, how cruel of you! And to think I was just trying to help you!"

Hayato smirked when he heard a small giggle leave Mariko's lips close followed by a soft 'baka'. Before one of them could say something, footsteps forced the two of them to look over their shoulders, and the content atmosphere that had started controlling the kitchen was shattered almost instantaneously.

"Ryu…" was all that left Hayato's lips as he stared at the newcomer, who was standing by the door, watching them in silence. "I didn't know you were coming. You really must have forgotten how to use a phone."

"I was told to come and give a hand at the kitchen." Ryu commented, his hands resting inside his pants' pockets, "What do you want me to do?"

"You can bake the cookies Hayato just ruined." Mariko answered after a few seconds in silence, and the said boy turned to her, a strange look on his face. Almost as if sensing his glare, Mariko looked away from Ryu to gaze at him. "Besides, I think you should go help the others in the living room. We don't know when aniki will show up, so…"

"Fine, fine, but if you need anything let me know." Hayato mumbled with a short nod before walking out of the kitchen. When they were finally alone, Mariko glanced at Ryu, but she promptly turned to the counter when she noticed that he was watching her.

"What am I supposed to do?" Ryu finally asked as he walked to the girl's side, observing what was displayed over the counter, and Mariko pointed at the chocolate that was on his right.

"Like I said, Hayato just ruined the cookies by adding salt instead of sugar, so do you mind doing some more?" the girl asked, and Ryu glanced at her before gazing at the chocolate again, "It's not too complicated; all you have to do is to follow the recipe. If you have any doubts, you can always ask too."

"Hmm…" was all Ryu said as he nodded, and Mariko smiled slightly at him before focusing her attention on the food that she was preparing. When he noticed that she was no longer watching him, Ryu glanced sideways at the girl beside him, and mentally wondered if he had done it right when he had allowed for Kosuke and Tsuchiya to drag him to Kumiko's residence.

Meanwhile, Kumiko kept fidgeting and biting her nails in pure nervousness. Heck, she was not even sure why she had allowed her former students to take her to the airport. Even though she had accepted to make Shin's welcoming party at her house, she had never expected for Noda and Uchiyama to drag her all the way to the airport.

Sure she would have to face Shin at her house, but at least she would not be forced to meet him so soon! Ah, why had she not informed Noda and Uchiyama that she would have preferred to stay behind, helping Mariko in the kitchen, to actually be there?

"Oi, Yankumi, stop that before you create a hole on the ground." Noda suddenly advised, and the math teacher snapped from her thoughts to glance at him. When she noticed the way both Noda and Uchiyama were looking at her, Kumiko immediately dropped her hand since she had been chewing on her nail ever since she had gotten lost in her thoughts.

But seriously, could someone blame her?

"Why are you so nervous?" Uchiyama asked from his seat, his elbows resting on his knees, but a smile suddenly enlightened his face, "You're behaving like a teenager girl who's about to see her crush or something."

"What?!" Kumiko practically shouted, and both Noda and Uchiyama blinked at her out-burst before glancing at each other. At that, Kumiko immediately raised a hand to her lips, her eyes widened in horror. "I-I mean…you guys…"

"What are you three doing here?"

The reaction to those words was almost instantaneous; a chill run down her spine, her limbs froze, her eyes widened in panic. Even her heart had skipped a few beats when her mind finally processed that _he_ was finally there.

Oh no! What was she supposed to do?

What was she supposed to say?

What was she supposed to think?!

"Shin!" both Noda and Uchiyama greeted with wide smiles at same time they got up from their seats, and rushed to his friend's side. "Man, long time no see!"

"Are you finally going to settle down or are you still planning on going to Africa?" Uchiyama questioned as he wrapped an arm around Shin's shoulders, while the newcomer turned his head to him.

"I'm here to stay."

"What?" Kumiko finally blurred out, but she regretted her burst as soon as Shin turned his head to glance to her, his deep eyes finding hers almost instantaneously. "I…hum…you…you're coming to stay?"

"That's awesome!" Noda exclaimed as he also rested his arm around Shin's shoulders, his smile widening even more at the prospect of all of them being together again, "Can you imagine us getting all together again? It's going to be so cool!"

"What are you doing here anyway?" Shin repeated as he gazed at Noda before glancing at Uchiyama, but when no one answered, he sighed. "Mariko told you when I was coming, didn't she? And by the looks on your faces, you probably prepared something…"

"Ah, you still have no faith in us!" Noda exclaimed as he dropped his arm, but Shin simply stared at him, "If you must know, yeah, we prepared something for you, but we aren't going to tell you what."

"I don't want anything," Shin promptly replied before bending down to grab his bag, and both Noda and Uchiyama went after him when he started walking away, explaining that what he what he wanted did not matter.

Kumiko, on the other hand, simply turned her body around as her eyes followed Shin's figure. Their interaction…she had never expected for other thing to happen instead of what had just occurred, but… Why was her heart throbbing due to Shin's lack of interest in her? Why did she feel so rejected?

"No, don't think like that." Kumiko told herself as she closed her eyes, and dropped her head, "You did the right thing, that's all that matters."

All she needed to do now was to command her heart to think the same way as her brain did, which was proving to be extremely difficult and wearisome.

"Oi, Yankumi!" Noda called-out from afar, and the teacher snapped from her thoughts only to notice that her former students were waiting for her by the exit door. With a deep breath, Kumiko glanced at Shin's back, since he had refused to look at her, and mentally sighed.

She had been dreading about that ever since she had left Africa, but now that Shin was back to Japan, she simply had to stop running. It was time to put an end to that confusion, and it was time for her to explain to Shin what she truly felt about the whole thing.

All she hoped was that her heart would agree with her decision, or the consequences of that situation would hurt deeper than a punch or a kick.

* * *

"Your hair has grown longer."

Mariko tore her eyes away from the lettuce she was washing to glance at the boy beside her when his words broke the silence. Ryu, on the other hand, continued looking for the ingredients he needed in order to bake a cake.

"A-ah, yeah…" Makino mumbled not sure of what she was supposed to say, and she quickly focused her attention on the lettuce again. "You look different as well. It seems as if Canada affected you somehow."

"Not really," Ryu answered as he turned around, and walked towards the fridge, from where he took the eggs. At his reply, Mariko felt a smile tugging the corner of her lips, and she promptly hid her amusement by closing the tap.

However, even though all she wanted was to say something, Mariko found it impossible to do so. No matter how hard she tried to force her lips to part, they continued closed almost as if they had been glued to one another. Heavens, how had things come to that?

"You know…Ryu…" Mariko started before turning to her side, but she trailed off when she suddenly looked up, and saw that Ryu was standing right in front of her. Almost instantly her mind went blank as the two of them kept staring at each other.

Mariko had absolutely no idea about for how long they just stood on the same position, staring at one another. All she knew was that during all that time all she had wanted to do was to lift her hands, and touch him…all she wanted was to feel that he was indeed close to her…

"Ryu…" Mariko heard his name leave her lips in form of a whisper, but the boy simply put the eggs he had been holding on the counter before giving one last step forward. One step that only served to confuse Mariko even more; after all, even though he was so close to her, she could not help but sense that he was still far from her.

"Oops…"

At that both Ryu and Mariko immediately stepped backwards, and stared at the door of the kitchen only to notice that Kumai and Mizuki were standing there. When she realised that they had probably witnessed what had just happened, Mariko could not help but go red and look away.

"Sorry for walking in, but Hayato told us you probably needed a hand." Kumai started as he pointed at some random point over his shoulder while Mizuki kept silent. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Hum…I-I don't think so." Mariko answered after a few seconds in silence, and she mentally took a deep breath before turning to the newcomers. "Ryu was just about to start baking a cake, and I just have to prepare the salad."

"Ah, let us do that then." Mizuki stepped in as she walked to Mariko's side, and the younger girl blinked at her words. "You probably had to prepare everything on your own, so this is the least we can do."

"But we—"

"She's right, let us at least prepare the salad and bake the cake." Kumai continued as he reached Ryu's side, a smile on his face, "Besides, Shin is probably on his way here already, and I'm sure you don't want to greet your cousin with an apron on, ne?"

Before Mariko or even Ryu could say a word, Kumai told them to leave the kitchen. As they stood in the hall, the two young adults glanced behind their shoulders, and saw Kumai taking care of the lettuce while Mizuki disappeared inside the kitchen, probably to look for the ingredients for the cake.

"I guess we should leave them…" Mariko mumbled as she looked away from the kitchen to glance at Ryu, who simply nodded in return. It was then that Asakura Tetsu and Tatsukawa Minoru appeared from out of nowhere.

"Mariko, Ojou just called." Tetsu started with a small nod, "They have already left the airport, and are on their way. Also, your friends," Tetsu turned to Ryu, who looked back at him in silence, "are already here. They are helping Yabuki in the living room."

"If you need anything just let us know." Minoru added, and the two young adults nodded in silent agreement before making their way towards the living-room. Once there, they quickly spotted Hayato, Tsuchiya, Keita and Kosuke sitting on the floor, talking and laughing.

However, when Tsuchiya and Kosuke told them to join them, Mariko was unable not to glance at Hayato, and notice that he was staring at Ryu. And on that moment, despite of the fact that she knew that was supposed to be a happy event; Mariko could not help but wonder if everything would turn out right.

After all, she knew what had happened between Shin and Kumiko; her cousin had actually let the information slip when she had asked him how things were going between him and the math teacher. Mariko had actually been expecting that meeting would help Shin and Kumiko to talk, but apparently they were not the only ones who had unfinished business to take care of.

"Oi Mariko-chan, sit down!" Keita exclaimed suddenly, and the girl snapped from her thoughts only to nod as a reaction. Hesitantly, she glanced at Ryu, who was still standing next to her, staring at some random spot on his side; yes, for some reason, she felt as if that gathering was not going to result in the miracle she had been waiting for.

**To Be Continued…**


	5. The Past is Today

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot.

* * *

I want to thank **blueprincess16**, **elebelly**, **cra-z-stephie**, **Youko-Kuramas-Kitsune** _and_ **Kanae92** for everything, and I'd also like to apologize for this chapter. This is not a very good one, but I promise I'll try to write a better one next time. So, please, forgive me for this chapter. Oh, and I have one question for you; do you guys think this story is becoming boring? I have some action planned for the future, but I was just wondering about everything. Thanks for the attention.

* * *

**Chapter ****4**

_The Past is Today_

Things were definitely not going as expected. Even though people could be found laughing and talking cheerfully inside Oedo Family's residence, there were some who were using smiles as a way of masking their depressing feelings. Occasionally, Tetsu, Minoru, Kouzou and Makoto would show up by the door to make sure that nothing was going wrong.

"Hmm, this gyoza is _so_ tasty!" Noda purred as he lowered his chopsticks before glancing at Mariko, and wink at her. "Congratulations to the chef. This is delicious!"

"This tempura is great as well." Uchiyama announced after swallowing his food, and then he glanced at a certain young man, who was silently eating, "Oi Shin, you sure are lucky for having such a great cook living with you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Mizuki asked as she glanced suspiciously at Uchiyama, who immediately smiled embarrassedly at her, causing everyone else to laugh at his antics. "Next time, you'll be the one to prepare lunch."

"Ah, don't say that!" Uchiyama whined as he turned to face his girlfriend, "You know how terrible I am when it comes to cooking!"

That assertion simply forced everybody else to laugh ever harder as they watched Mizuki telling Uchiyama that it was his problem if he did not know how to cook. Tsuchiya, unable to let the subject die, quickly confessed that he did not know how to cook either, and that therefore Uchiyama was not alone.

"Man, it's a shame that Kumai-san had to leave so soon." Kusoke commented as he lowered his juice, and Keita immediately nodded at that. "He left so suddenly he didn't even have the time to try some of this food."

"Kuma left?" Kumiko finally asked as she snapped from her thoughts, and she looked around only to notice that the owner of Kumai Restaurant was indeed missing. "Hum…when did he leave? I didn't even notice he wasn't here."

"Ah, Kumai-san left after receiving a call from his wife." Mizuki explained after cleaning her lips with her napkin, and Kumiko let out an 'ah' at that. "It had something to do with an accident, but I don't know what happened. Kumai-san only said that he had to leave, and reassured me that everything was fine."

"Hum, I see…" Kumiko mumbled with a small nod, but after a few seconds just staring down at her plate, her eyes widened in understanding, and she looked at Mizuki again. "Wait! What? Wife? What wife?"

"When I think you can't surprise us anymore, you go and do something like this." Noda commented after a sigh, and Kumiko turned to him, her eyes still wide open. "Even Shin knows that Kuma married like one year ago. Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"What? Even Sawada knows?!" Kumiko asked, and before she could stop herself, she stared at Shin, who was sitting across from her, "How come no one ever told me about it? When did this happen?"

"Yeah, Kuma married one and half year ago." Uchiyama started with a small nod, and he took a quick sip of his drink, "Hopefully you'll remember who she is; her name is Morisaki Ami. She was a student at Momo Girls High School. He saved her from some thugs while we were still in Shirokin."

"Ah! Of course I remember her!" Kumiko shouted as she pointed at Uchiyama, "She was Kuma's first love! Aw! It's so cute to know that he managed to ask her to marry him!"

"But you honestly didn't know?" Noda asked before smirking at same time he shook his head, "Same old Yankumi."

"Anyhow, this isn't about Kuma, but about Shin." Uchiyama continued before grabbing his cup, and raise it slightly in the air, "So, let's welcome this guy like he deserves. Let's make a toast, and I sure hope you won't leave the Japanese shores any time soon."

At those words, Kumiko found herself glancing at Shin, who looked back at her almost as if sensing that she was going to gaze at him. When their eyes met, Kumiko looked away, but not before feeling her heartbeat speeding up while the palms of her hands grew sweatier.

"Kanpai!" everyone exclaimed on top of their lungs as they raised their cups, and Kumiko hastily grabbed her glass before raising it, though no word left her sealed lips. Shin also mimicked her actions in silence, but he ended up glancing at Uchiyama when his friend slapped him on the arm in a sociable way.

Unhurriedly, Kumiko raised her glass to her lips, and watched as everyone continued talking and laughing before gazing timidly at Shin again. Not surprisingly, he was staring back at her with a blank expression on his face. Kumiko knew she deserved that silent treatment, but she simply could not regret her actions.

After all, his question had been completely unpredictable and unreasonable.

However, there was no way she could ignore the fact that his behaviour hurt her. It was true; perhaps she _did_ deserve that, but at same time it pained her to think that possibly they would never return to what they used to be.

* * *

"You know, you didn't have to do this." Kumiko started as she reached out for a few glasses, but when no answer was given, she raised her eyes. For a moment, she just watched as her helper piled the plates before grabbing them with both hands, "Mariko-chan?"

"Yes?" the said girl asked as she finally snapped from her daze, but Kumiko just stood silent as Mariko turned her attention to her, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something. Do you mind repeating what you said?"

"Mariko-chan, why didn't you go with the guys?" Kumiko asked, deciding to start the conversation with another subject, but she quieted down when Tetsu and Minoru returned from the kitchen, and quickly grabbed more glasses and plates before disappearing into the hall again, after bowing in respect at Kumiko. "I'm sure you're missing your cousin."

"Ah, well, I'm not going to say I'm not dying to spend some time with Shin." Mariko started with a soft smile, and she quickly put the plates she had been holding on the table before turning to Kumiko, "But I'm sure Shin missed being with the guys as well, so… Besides, this way I have the chance of talking to you."

"Eh?" Kumiko asked in confusion, and she also put the glasses she had been holding on the table again, "Does this have anything to do with what's going on between Yabuki and Odagiri?"

"No, I actually wanted to talk to you about Shin." Mariko admitted, and Kumiko immediately looked away. "I don't mean to pry, but…you know that I'm aware of what happened when you went to Africa, and…well, I know that what happened hurt you and Shin, but—"

"Mariko-chan, I don't mean to sound impolite, but this is none of your business." Kumiko cut the girl off, her voice rather tight, but the other girl instead of nodding, sighed heavily. "So please, don't worry about what's going on."

"I'm sorry, Yankumi-san, but I have to disagree." Mariko started after a short pause, and when Tetsu and Minoru returned to take more dishes to the kitchen, Kumiko did the only thing she could think of. Without even blinking, she reached out for Mariko's wrist, and dragged the girl to her bedroom.

"Mariko-chan, I understand you may be worried about your cousin, but he's not a little boy anymore." Kumiko started as she motioned for the girl to sit down on her bed, "Sawada is aware that life isn't a bed of roses."

"Actually, aniki doesn't even know that I'm talking to you about this." Mariko started, and Kumiko raised an eyebrow before sitting next to her, also on the bed. "But I really want you two to fix everything, and I think that in order to do this, you two need to talk."

"Mariko-chan…"

"Did you know that when you told Shin that you wanted nothing to do with him, he returned to Japan?" Mariko asked abruptly, and Kumiko's mouth dropped at the question, "He returned, and went to Osaka to study for…well, it doesn't matter. The thing is that I think you two should talk before—"

"Do you mean that Sawada has been in Japan for the last _four_ years?" Kumiko asked, her voice growing at each word, and Mariko nodded, though a bit hesitantly. "_What?_ Why didn't he tell me that he was here? That…that…that idiot!"

"Hum…Yankumi-san, you two haven't spoken for the last years because both of you are too stubborn for your own good." Mariko started cautiously, and Kumiko, who had stood up from the bed when she had spoken, sat down again. "That's why I'm asking for the two of you to meet somewhere, and talk. Heavens know you need to do that!"

"The hell I am!" Kumiko practically shouted this time, but Mariko did not even flinch at the math teacher's yell. "He didn't even bother to tell me that he was in Japan! That idiot is always thinking about himself! That's so…so…so infuriating!"

"Yankumi-san, have you ever watched _Anego_?" Mariko questioned suddenly, and Kumiko turned to her before letting out a harsh 'what?'. "_Anego _is a jdrama that was aired in 2005. I think it has as main support a novel that goes by the same name, and that was written by Hayashi Mariko. Please, if you have the chance, watch it."

"_Anego_?" Kumiko repeated, and Mariko nodded before standing up from the bed, "And why do you want me to watch it? I don't have time for little games, especially when they involve your cousin."

"Trust me; I think it will be great if you watch it." Mariko commented with a short nod, but Kumiko simply continued to stare at her, clearly not understanding, "In fact, I'll do it even better. I have the drama at my house; I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

"Wait. Wait, why should I watch it?" Kumiko questioned as she raised both her hands when she noticed that Mariko was about to leave, but the girl simply smiled at her before clasping her hands behind her back.

"Because I think it will help you and Shin," Mariko finally confessed, the smile never leaving her face, and Kumiko blinked at that declaration. "And also, I care a lot about you and my cousin, so…well, I just hope _Anego _does help you."

With those words, Mariko bowed in respect before bidding farewell, and before Kumiko could stop her, the girl left the room. For a long period of time, Kumiko just continued sitting on her bed, staring into space, her mind processing over and over what Mariko had told her.

First, Shin had spent those last four years in Japan, leaving everyone to think that he had been in Africa. Secondly, she was to watch a jdrama that was supposed to help her love life. Ah! As if that was possible! And thirdly!

A groan escaped from Kumiko's lips, and the teacher immediately lay down on her bed before covering her face with her arms. Heavens, when was her life going to start making sense?

* * *

It seemed as if the quietness of the night was never to reach those streets as Tsuchiya, Keita and Kosuke continued laughing and talking loudly. They were all extremely happy for finally being able to be together, since they rarely managed to find some time to spend with their friends due to school or work.

At the moment, both Tsuchiya and Kosuke were making fun of Keita, who had accidentally confessed to be interested in asking Maki to be his girlfriend. Apparently, up until that day they had only been going out, but it was obvious that Keita wanted to take things further.

"…and most importantly, don't forget to use protection." Kosuke teased, and he started laughing again at the sight of Keita's flushed cheeks. Tsuchiya quickly took profit of the situation, and continued teasing his shortest friend as well.

However, while Tsuchiya, Kosuke and Keita continued having fun, both Hayato and Ryu were following them in silence. Both were carrying serious expressions on their faces, and they had barely gazed at one another ever since they had left Kumiko's house. Thankfully, none of his friends had noticed the tension that surrounded the two boys.

With an inaudible sigh, Hayato glanced to his side, and watched as cars zoomed past them. Then, he gazed at the boy who was walking beside him, and a smirk appeared on his face when he noticed that no matter what happened, they always ended up together.

"Geez, this is troublesome." Hayato commented suddenly, his smirk growing wider when Ryu glanced confusedly at him, "I mean, here we are; two friends, supposedly angry at one another, walking side-by-side. But before you ask, I haven't forgiven you yet."

"Whatever…" Ryu mumbled before focusing his attention on Tsuchiya and the others, and Hayato shook his head. When he noticed what his friend was doing, Ryu turned his head to him again, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Just stop being an idiot, and go talk to her."

There was a moment of silence that was quickly shattered when Tsuchiya unexpectedly started singing something along with Kosuke. Apparently they were still having fun teasing Keita about his relationship with Maki.

At Hayato's words, Ryu looked away; his hands now stuffed inside his pants pockets. When he noticed that Ryu was not paying any sort of attention to what he was saying, Hayato rested a hand on his friend's shoulder, forcing him to stop his tracks.

"Listen, its fine if you're mad at me, but don't blame her as well." Hayato advised as Ryu slowly turned to him, looking uninterested about the topic. "I know what you think that you saw, but since I don't want to kick your ass right now, I prefer not to go into that. I'm just asking you to go talk to her, and end this."

"There is nothing to end," Ryu retorted, and Hayato let out a deep breath before scratching the top of his head in annoyance, "Don't bother me about that."

"On contraire, unless you want me to beat you senseless, you better go talk to Mar, and fix this whole thing," Hayato instructed as he finally dropped his hand in order to cross his arms against his chest, "But remember that I haven't forgiven you yet."

"Tsk, whatever…"

"However, before you go, I have something to tell you." Hayato started right when Ryu was about to follow Tsuchiya, Kosuke, and Keita. Unhurriedly, Ryu turned to him, the same apathetic expression on his face, "Before you left to Canada, you asked me to look after Mariko, did you not?"

"What about it?" Ryu asked not looking bothered about the topic, and Hayato smirked lightly at him before thrusting his hands inside his pants pockets.

"Well, I just thought that you deserved to know this through me," he started, but his teasing expression suddenly grew serious, "I asked Mariko out, and she said yes."

**To Be Continued…**


	6. Extenuating Circumstances

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot. Also, the song displayed here is entitled _Kizuna _and it belongs to **Kamenashi Kazuya**.

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I want to thank **mysterygal02**, **cra-z-stephie**, **blueprincess16**, **rainbow-kitten91** _and_ **LustAndVengeance** for everything. Thank you for reading _Follow our Memories_. I really hope I won't disappoint you guys.

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**Chapter ****5**

_Extenuating Circumstances _

That was probably _**the**_ most embarrassing situation ever! But it was all her fault; after all, she should have prepared herself for something really awkward ever since she had noticed how bizarre that week had been.

On Monday, Mariko had stopped by to give her a DVD. Even though at the time she had not understood how a jdrama was supposed to help her, Kumiko decided to accept it. The two girls ended up spending the whole afternoon talking about random stuff, and even though they were not that close in age, Kumiko had to admit she loved talking to Mariko.

On Tuesday, Kumiko had spent the whole day trying to find a place where she could work. She had left a few CV in some High Schools, but for some reason, Kumiko could not help but sense that no one was going to call her.

On Wednesday, before lunch, Takeda had showed up before lunch to ask some surprising questions. Up until that moment Kumiko had yet to understand why on earth Takeda had come to her of all people to ask about what was proper to offer to a girl. But then again, Kumiko was positive that Takeda himself was not sure about that either.

Wednesday afternoon was occupied with more job-hunting, and culminated in a dinner with Noda, Uchiyama and Mizuki. And no matter how much time passed, Kumiko just could not help but think that Uchiyama and Mizuki appeared to be perfect for each other.

On Thursday, Kumiko remembered Mariko's DVD, and decided to watch the jdrama. Needless to say that after the second episode, Kumiko had watched the drama flushing all possible shades of red. That jdrama was, after all, about a thirty-one year old woman who ends up developing feelings for a man, ten years younger than her.

Now, that sounded way too familiar.

And then there was Friday…

…The present day…

…And Yamaguchi Kumiko was stranded on a beach with non-other than Sawada Shin himself.

Had the situation been different, Kumiko would have loved the idea of spending the whole day, bathing under the blazing sun or swimming in the chilly waves of the sea. However, ever since she had been practically abandoned on that beach with Shin with no possible way of going back to civilization, Kumiko seriously did not know what to do.

One side of her wanted to scream while the other side wanted to hunt down and murder the brains behind that idiotic plan.

"Those guys…" Kumiko growled under her breath as she clenched both her hands into tight fists. On her mind pictures of Uchiyama, Noda, Yabuki, Tsuchiya, Kosuke and Takeda popped up, all of her former students teasing her about the present situation.

Oh, they would pay…

All of a sudden, someone sat down next to her, and Kumiko tensed up instantaneously. Instinctively, she pressed her legs even harder against her chest before wrapping her arms around her knees. Slowly, almost as if she was trying not to draw any attention to herself, Kumiko turned her head to the opposite direction, and run a hand through her right ponytail.

What else could go wrong?

"I'm very sorry for all this," Kumiko started before she could stop herself, but Shin said nothing in return, as he continued staring at the sea, "Had I known that those idiots were planning this, I would have had—"

"End up in this situation anyway." Shin finished as he rested his elbows on his raised knees, and Kumiko glanced sideways at him before looking away. Good lord, why on earth was she recalling _Anego_ on that moment of all times? Her life had nothing to do with that jdrama!

"Still, I'm going to kill them." Kumiko growled under her breath, but a faint snort forced her to raise her head in confusion. Without thinking about what she was doing, Kumiko turned her head to stare at Shin only to feel her heart skip a beat. Heavens, she had never thought it would be possible for him to look even more handsome, but now that the sea breeze was playing with his hair…

Ah, she was not supposed to be thinking that about her former student!

"Say, don't you think we should try to find a way to leave this place?" Kumiko decided to ask in a desperate attempt to force her brain to focus on something else other than Shin's looks, "I mean; we can't stay here forever. We don't even have food!"

"You're still melodramatic as always." Shin commented with a smirk, and Kumiko blinked at his observation. She felt her breath get stuck on her throat, however, when Shin turned his head to look at her, "They're most likely watching us from somewhere."

"_Eh?!_ You think they would do that?!" Kumiko practically yelled, and she quickly started looking in all directions, from over her shoulders. A chuckle forced her to calm down, though, and Kumiko turned to Shin, "Why are you laughing?"

"I have no reasons to laugh." Shin pointed out with a straight face, and Kumiko looked away at his words, "However, I think we should take profit of this situation, and finish some pending conversations."

Oh no.

"I err…I don't know what…" Kumiko trailed off when Shin suddenly glanced at her, unconsciously sending a chill up her spine, and the woman immediately looked down. "Do you really think we should waste this wonderful weather talking about depressing things?"

"They are only depressing if you consider them as such," Shin pointed out, and Kumiko glanced at him before looking away, and take a deep breath. There was only one way she could escape from the upcoming subject that she knew Shin was going to bring up.

"I always thought you had been in Africa during the last few years." Kumiko stated as she focused her attention on the dancing waves, her arms still wrapped around her raised knees. "If Mariko-chan hadn't told me, I would have never discovered that you have been in Japan these past four years."

"I had no reason to inform you about that," Shin answered matter-of-factly, and Kumiko mentally winced at his flat tone, "Where I am or what I'm doing is none of your concern. Besides, it's not as if you tried to keep contact after you left Africa."

"Ah, about that…" Kumiko trailed off, not knowing what she was supposed to say, and she involuntarily scratched her right cheek with the tip of her index finger, "I…well, I did try to, but you know…the thing is…"

"Why did you run away?"

Ah! No! That was going the wrong way! And the worst was that she just could not change the subject now!

"I-I—"

"Why did you run away?" Shin repeated his voice still tranquil and quite controlled. Kumiko simply could not understand how he could be so calm when she was a nervous wreck. But then again, Sawada Shin had always been serene and thoughtful. "Kumiko, why did you run away?"

Ah! She was tired of that topic!

"You asked me to marry you! That's why!" Kumiko practically yelled at same time she got up, Shin watching her with attentive eyes. Mechanically, Kumiko closed her hands into tight fists, her face reflecting both anger and sadness. "Why did you have to bring this subject up now?"

"You know why." Shin pointed out, as he continued sitting down on the sand, Kumiko standing in front of him, "And stop avoiding my question. If my memory isn't wrong, you left Africa after I asked you to stay with me."

"You should have understood my answer when I left!" Kumiko exclaimed, this time throwing her arms in the air in pure annoyance, "What you did was ridiculous and completely uncalled for!"

"I don't see why you think that way; that was, after all, a normal question." Shin replied still in the same tone, his hands resting on his sides, "Not to mention that it was one that was bond to happen. I don't know why you were so surprised back then."

"You don't…_Sawada!_" Kumiko screamed in disbelief, "You asked _me_ to marry _you_! That's enough reason for my surprise! Are you even aware that I'm six years older than you? That alone should have given you the answer to your question even before you asked it!"

"Six years, twenty years, that's a stupid way of thinking." Shin interjected with a shrug, and despite of everything, Kumiko found herself recalling the jdrama _Anego. _Good grief, was her life so alike with that Japanese drama?

"That is not a stupid way of thinking; that's reality!" Kumiko disagreed with a small shake of her head, "I'm almost twenty-eight! You're twenty-three! You should be chasing girls your age, and not….not be thinking about unintelligent things!"

"Unintelligent, eh?" Shin asked, and Kumiko blinked when she noticed the smirk on her former student's face. Abruptly, the young man stood up, and rested his hands inside his pants pockets, his head entitled to his side. "Since when asking the woman you love to marry you is considered foolhardiness?"

"Sawada, please, just drop it." Kumiko sighed, suddenly feeling too tired to proceed with the conversation, but she was forced to take a step backwards when Shin's face unexpectedly appeared in front of her eyes.

For a moment, they just stood like that; Shin's face extremely close to Kumiko's, behaving as if he was trying to look at what was behind her eyes. When she finally came back to her senses, Kumiko tried to move backwards, only to look down when she felt two strong hands holding her arms.

"Sawada…"

"I remember you kept telling us never to run away," Shin started still in a controlled tone, and Kumiko found it impossible to look away from his deep eyes, "Yet you keep trying to escape from me. Is it that hard for you to say _no_? I mean, if that's what you tried to tell me when you left Africa, then let me tell you that I prefer to hear you say it."

"Sawada…"

"So say it. It's quite simple really; all you have to do is say the word _no_." Shin interrupted, and even though Kumiko never rejected a challenge, she knew she could not allow Shin's words to get to her. "If you don't say it, I won't give up."

Crap!

* * *

With a sigh, Mariko reached out for another book, and started searching for the page she needed. Without even looking up from the black words, the girl grabbed the glass she had on the right side of the table, and took a long sip of the juice she had prepared long before she had started studying.

Even though she absolutely loved that subject, studying was proving to be more wearisome than she had first expected. That not to mention, that even though she had asked for a certain someone to help her out, he had yet to show up at her house.

Ah, she should have known that it was a bad idea to ask Hayato to give her a hand with her study. She was, after all, aware of his lack of interest in anything that was school-related for crying out loud!

"Where is it?" Mariko asked herself as she put the glass on the table again, but when she was just about to turn the page, something caught her attention. Slowly, the girl tore her eyes away from the book, and stared at the radio she had placed right next to her, on the floor.

"_No matter how much we consider the future,_

_No one can see the truth._

_Something is blocking my blank mind,_

_It's just a mistake that I've been repeating."_

Gradually, Mariko put the book down, so that it was now resting on her legs, her eyes wandering off the point. For a moment, she allowed herself to forget about studying, and go back in time, to the minutes she had spent inside a karaoke room with a certain young man.

And for a split of a second, Mariko wished she could go back to that day.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Mariko gently put the book that was resting on her lap on the floor, next to the radio. Quickly, she stood up from the floor, and made her way towards the front door before opening it.

"Hayato, you're la—" the words died in Mariko's lips when her eyes fell on the person standing on the other side of the door, hands resting inside jeans' pockets. For what had resembled to an eternity, the two young adults just stared at each other until a deep voice broke the silence.

"May I come in?"

"R-Ryu!" Mariko finally blurred out, her hand still resting on the doorknob, but she forced herself to abandon her trance. Hastily, she stepped backwards, allowing Ryu to step inside. "I'm sorry; I was expecting Hayato to show up. I err…did something happen?"

Instead of answering, Ryu made his way towards the sofa before he sat down, and quietly grab the book that was lying on the floor, next to the radio. Without knowing what else to do, Mariko closed the door of her apartment before turning towards Ryu again, and she silently took in his form.

What had happened to them?

"I hum…I'm actually studying for an exam." Mariko decided to speak up, though she had no idea why she had decided to mention school of all possible topics. "I was hoping Hayato would show up, even though I should have known he wasn't. He's not the studying type anyway."

"He mentioned your English Literature exam." Ryu stated unexpectedly, and Mariko stared at him only to notice he was now observing the book he had been holding the entire time. "Since he decided not to show up, in exchange let me tell you that his pride would never allow him to admit he has read Shakespeare."

"Hayato has read…Shakespeare?" Mariko questioned sounding as surprised as she looked, and Ryu nodded in reply although he was still observing the book he was holding, "I…I never saw him as the type who actually likes to read."

"He only read _Macbeth, _though, and he did it because of a dare." Ryu elaborated, and Mariko blinked at his words, "It was a long time ago; Tsuchi dared him to read something that no one else would read. Take was the one who came up with Shakespeare."

"Hayato read _Macbeth_?" Mariko repeated, though she had to admit that 'Hayato' and 'anything Shakespeare related' did not fit in the same sentence. "Now, I certainly was not expecting that although I did find it weird when he said he could give me a hand."

"Personally, I prefer _King Lear_." Ryu spoke up, and Mariko looked away when he abruptly raised his head to gaze at her. Slowly, he put the book on the table before resting against the sofa. "And even though I find this too troublesome, I thought that since Hayato wasn't going to show up, I could try to help you out."

"I hum…you don't…" Mariko trailed off, and mentally asked herself why on earth she was feeling so nervous. That was Ryu after all! "I mean, you don't have to help me. I actually love Shakespeare, and I'm having fun examining his plays, so…if you find it too troublesome, you…don't have to help me."

"I didn't leave my house for nothing," Ryu admitted, and Mariko looked away, feeling warmth rush up her body towards her cheeks. He was still staring at her, with those deep and attentive eyes of his, which made her feel completely defenceless.

"Would you like some tea?" Mariko inquired, but before Ryu could answer, she turned her back to him, and walked towards her small kitchenette. For a few minutes, Mariko just moved around, preparing the tea, still feeling Ryu's eyes on her.

"Mariko,"

At her name, Mariko stopped moving for a second before she focused her attention on the boiling water. His voice had indicated that Ryu was still sitting on the sofa, which offered her some sort of relief even though Mariko could not understand why she was so jumpy.

That was not the first time they were alone ever since Ryu had returned to Canada anyway.

"Hayato told me you two are going out."

An inaudible gasp abandoned Mariko's lips at same time she widened her eyes in shock. Without even noticing what she was doing, she let go of the cup she had been holding, which fell on the sink, making a loud sound. Mariko did not even noticed when her breathing had started to come out rapidly; all she had felt was her heart skipping a painful beat at those words.

"Hayato…told you that?" Mariko asked in a soft tone, her eyes locked with the boiling water, and even though she did not look over her shoulder, she was positive that Ryu had nodded. "Well, I…we…what he told you…"

"Are you happy with him?"

A chill run up her spine when a warm breath suddenly hit her cheek, and Mariko instinctively turned around, eyes once again widened in shock. Warmth quickly took over her cheeks, but Mariko simply found it impossible to look away from Ryu's dark pools. He was so close…he was so dangerously close to her, and yet why did it feel as if he was far away from her?

Why did it feel as if he was out of reach just like he had been during his stay in Canada?

"Are you happy with him?" Ryu repeated, but no thought run through Mariko's mind as she continued staring at him in the eye. All of the feelings she had managed to keep inside of her were slowly crawling out of her soul and conquering her body. All of the emotions she had managed to keep bottled up were slowly taking over her, and no matter what, this time Mariko knew it would be hopeless to force them to return to their shackles.

"Ryu, what Hayato told you…" Mariko tried to say as she dropped her head, unable to keep looking at the boy in the eye, "I don't know why he told you that, but yes, we did go out for a while. We…we decided to give it a try one and half year after your departure."

"That's not what I asked."

"I don't know if Hayato told you everything, but by the way you're acting I'm sure he didn't." Mariko continued, ignoring Ryu's words, and even though she knew it was foolish to do so, she ended up raising her head again, "We went out for a few months, but…it didn't work."

There was a moment of silence, during which the two young adults just stared at one another. They were so perilously close that Mariko was forced to close her hands into tight fists in order to stop herself from raising them, and touch Ryu. All Mariko wanted was for something to either force them to part from one another or to force them to get even closer. But that, Mariko knew, was a selfish thing to wish for.

"Why aren't you together anymore?"

"Does that really matter?" Mariko asked after a few seconds in silence, and before she knew it, her vision started getting blurry, "Why do you want to know so badly what happened between Hayato and I? That's in the past. It shouldn't matter anymore, it's—"

"It _does_ matter," Ryu suddenly interrupted by grabbing Mariko by her arms, his grip strong yet not strong enough to hurt her, "I was away for four years. I know I should have kept contact, but I couldn't, and now I can't help but to want to know everything."

"But why? Hayato and I went out, yes, that's true, but it didn't work!" Mariko exclaimed, feeling her glasses slip down towards the tip of her nose, Ryu still holding her, "You want to know why? Fine! It's because when we tried to kiss it felt as if we were kissing our sibling!"

Suddenly, Ryu dropped his hands, and Mariko stumbled backwards until she hit the counter behind her. For a few seconds, the two young adults just stared at each other, Mariko looking edgy while Ryu carried an emotionless expression on his face.

"That idiot…" Ryu whispered unexpectedly, and Mariko blinked at his words before swallowing hard when he focused his attention on her again, "You idiot…"

"Wh-What?" Mariko blurred out without knowing what else to say, but she shivered in surprise when Ryu gave one step forward, resting his hands on the counter, on her sides. Involuntarily, Mariko raised a hand in front of her chest, her heartbeat speeding up rapidly. "R-Ryu…"

"Idiots…" Ryu whispered, and Mariko felt her breath get caught on her throat when she noticed that Ryu was moving his head towards her. One side of her wanted to push him away, while the other side was practically begging for Ryu to actually do something. "Mariko…"

At her name, the girl focused her attention on Ryu's dark eyes, and unconsciously licked her lips in anticipation. His breath was already caressing her face, and before she knew what she was doing, Mariko closed her eyes while Ryu continued moving closer to her.

Then, when Mariko was certain that only one thing was going to result from that situation, a third voice echoed through the whole room.

"What on earth is going on in here?"

**To Be Continued…**


	7. Passion and Tension

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot. Also, this is based on _Gokusen 2_, but characters from _Gokusen 1_ will be present in the story.

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I want to thank **cra-z-stephi**e, **mysterygal02**, **rainbow-kitten91**, **blueprincess16**, **LustAndVengeance** _and_ **RenChu** for everything, especially your support and help. I also hope you KumikoxShin fans enjoy this chapter )

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**Chapter 6**

_Passion and Tension _

She seriously did not know what to say or what to do. No mater how hard she tried, she simply could not think straight since a turmoil of doubts and uncertainty had already conquered her mind. All she could do was feel the way Shin was holding her arms, their eyes still locked even though all she wanted was to look away.

She had never quite understood why she had always refused to tell Shin the flat 'no' she constantly screamed in her mind. No matter how hard she tried to force her mouth to work in order to say that extremely petite word, she had always been unable to do it. Instead, she had run away, behaving like a child that did not know what she wanted.

But now there it was the chance she had been looking for. Shin had put the ball on her side; it was clear now; all she had to say was 'no', and Shin would finally drop that stupid idea of marrying her instantly…

…But if it was that simple, then why did she not just say it?

'_Because if I say it, he'll leave,' _Kumiko answered before she could stop herself, and her eyes widened at that thought. What? She was afraid of telling Shin 'no', because she was worried he could leave her? That was stupid! It made absolutely no sense for her to be thinking that way. All she had wanted was for Shin to drop the idea of marrying her, and start looking for someone his age, and yet…

…and yet it was pointless to say that she _did_ like the way he looked at her sometimes.

'_No! That's not true!' _Kumiko shouted in her mind at same time she closed her eyes shut. No, she had to be rational! There was absolutely no way their marriage would work; she was the fourth generation heir to the Oedo Family, while he was…no, there was simply no way she would ever allow Shin to get involved in such business.

"Kumiko!"

At her name, the math teacher opened her eyes again, and noticed that Shin had moved his head forward so that the tips of their noses were almost touching. He looked deadly serious; she could not even recall ever seeing such expression on his face before. He was waiting…he was waiting for the moment when she would terminate that situation.

He was waiting for her to say one single word…

…But the problem was that Kumiko was not sure she would ever be able to say it.

Flashes of memories started consuming her mind; memories concerned to her first time teaching a 3-D class. She could recall with every detail all situations her first students had put her through. She could remember perfectly the way Shin would observe her in and outside the classroom, always expecting to see her commit one mistake…

…and she could painfully feel the way her heart would beat every time she spotted Shin looking at her with interest and affection…

"Kumiko, just say it!" Shin ordered in his strong voice, his grip on her arms increasing, and Kumiko knew that he was finally giving in to fretfulness. It was clear in his eyes that all he wanted was for her to tell him what he wanted to hear, and get over all that.

…But did she have enough strength to say goodbye to all those feelings?

Would she ever be able to keep going without feeling his eyes on her?

"Just say 'no'!" Shin commanded, and Kumiko stared at him right in the eye before swallowing hard. Would she ever be able to keep walking without ever looking at the fire in his eyes again? Would she be able to live without feeling his strong hands guiding her?

"Just say 'no'!"

To be honest, now that she was staring at Shin's frantic eyes, Kumiko finally realised that the answer was quite simple.

"Shin…" Kumiko managed to utter, her voice coming out strangely low, just above a whisper, "I…my answer is…" for a second the teacher looked away from Shin's eyes, but when she felt his grip increase slightly again, she gazed at his dark orbs one more time before licking her lips, "My answer is no."

For a second everything went still. The waves did not sing, and the wind did not blow. A car crossed the road just behind them, but even the soft sound of the motor went unnoticed as Kumiko and Shin stared at one another. Then, hastily, Shin dropped his hands, and Kumiko felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed that he was getting ready to walk away.

"Sawada, wait!" Kumiko practically yelled when Shin turned his back to her, and without knowing what else to do, Kumiko grasped his arm. "Look at me!"

When he did not, Kumiko did the only thing she could think of. As she released the young man's arm, she stepped in front of him, and cupped both sides of his face before forcing him to bend down. As she closed her eyes, Kumiko entitled her head to the side, and felt electricity run down her body when her lips met Shin's.

On the moment their lips caressed one another, time seemed to freeze around them. It felt like bliss as their lips started to tingle though they were still glued. Then, everything resembled to an emotional roller-coaster. The first touch was timid yet tense, but when she noticed that Shin was simply standing there, doing nothing, Kumiko decided to rest a hand on the back of his head, and press him ever closer to her.

That movement appeared to have been enough for Shin, who suddenly wrapped his arms around her torso, almost crushing Kumiko with his embrace. However, all that went unnoticed as the two of adults pressed their lips more firmly against each other, revealing all that they were feeling. There was anxiety, there was pain, there was lust…there was passion.

It was then that Shin suddenly broke the kiss so that they could breathe, but before Kumiko could inhale, he captured her lips again. Unable to keep up with the hunger within their kiss, Kumiko felt herself melt against Shin, who gently started lowering them until Kumiko was lying on the sand with him towering her.

When had their hands gained life of their own? Oh, Kumiko did not know, but it did not matter. All that matter was the way Shin was using his arms to keep himself from crushing her under his weight, and the way his right hand was wandering through her side. A small laugh abandoned Kumiko's lips when Shin caressed a rather ticklish spot, but she quickly regretted doing that for Shin quickly took the change to explore the interior of her mouth.

That was perhaps the most exhilarating kiss Kumiko had experienced in her entire life.

"Ahh, my poor eyes are not ready for this kind of stuff!"

Kumiko ended the kiss as soon as the first word was spoken. Regrettably, she looked away from Shin to gaze at whoever was standing behind her only to widen her eyes in horror when she saw all of her former students. Uchiyama, Noda, Yabuki, Tsuchiya, Kosuke and Takeda were all standing a few meters from them, all carrying wide grins.

Oh dear…

"You guys!" Kumiko shouted, and she mechanically threw Shin off her before standing up, her face now bright red. "Have you no shame?"

"Oi, oi, we never thought you guys would go this far." Tsuchiya commented as he opened his white fan.

"Yeah, from where we stood, it looked as if you guys were ready to kill each other," Kosuke elaborated as he gestured a little bit, and Tsuchiya nodded in silent agreement as he started fanning himself.

"You can't really blame us for wanting to make sure there was no bloodshed." Noda finished, but when his grin got wider, Kumiko knew there was more to come. Who spoke up, however, was Uchiyama.

"Instead, they were just about to start the journey that would lead to their first kid."

"Now, wouldn't that be a sight?" Hayato asked before gazing at all of his friends, and chuckle, "Or perhaps, it would be better if they did that in a bedroom like normal people do."

"When I came here I didn't plan to be traumatized," Takeda concluded before gazing at Kumiko, and smirk at her, "And by my former teacher no less."

"Ah, shut up!" Kumiko exclaimed before rushing towards her students, who quickly spun around, and started running away from her as they laughed their hearts out. "Hey, wait up! You have to pay for what you did!"

Shin, on the other hand, just stood up from the sand, and watched as Kumiko chased her former students.

Little did the group know that Shin was not the only one watching them…

* * *

Cautiously, Mariko glanced at Ryu, who was sitting on the sofa beside her before looking down, warmth quickly conquering her cheeks. They had not done anything, and yet she could not help but feel as if she had just been caught trying to reach out for the cookie jar just before dinner. It was a silly feeling, but extremely real.

"So…is this your boyfriend?"

Mariko raised her head at the question, and she looked straight at the third person that was inside her living-room, sitting on an armchair. Her long light brown hair was falling gently down her slender shoulders, while a few dark orange highlights brought her warm brown eyes out even more.

It was curious, how she did not look alike with her brother in physical terms.

"I always thought you were going out with Yabuki-kun."

"No, no, that's not true." Mariko started rather quickly at same time she shook her head, "You know very well that Hayato is like a brother to me. We did try to go out, but it just didn't work. This," Mariko motioned to the boy next to her with a hand, "is Odagiri Ryu, Hayato's best friend."

"This is Ryu?" the woman asked before resting her eyes on the said boy for a long period of time, before gazing at Mariko again, "This is _the_ Odagiri Ryu? The one you kept telling me about?"

"Natsumi-chan!" Mariko exclaimed, looking extremely uncomfortable at same time she blushed a deep shade of pink, and Ryu glanced at her in confusion, "Don't say that; he'll probably think I'm a fan girl or something."

"Well, at least let me say that you have a nice taste." Natsumi laughed lightly, and while Mariko went red, Ryu blushed faintly at her compliment. "Have you told Shin about all this? I'm sure he'll be very interested in it."

"I'm not going to tell him anything, because there's nothing going on." Mariko mumbled, still looking somewhat mortified by what Natsumi had said. Then, without glancing at Ryu, she continued, "Ryu, this is Sawada Natsumi, she's Shin's younger sister."

"Well, then, I came here to give you this," Natsumi started as she reached out for her purse, and in a matter of seconds she was holding an envelope with both her hands, "You're one of the firsts to see this. I'd like you to come, and you can also bring your boyfriend with you."

Even though all she wanted was to say that Ryu was not her boyfriend, Mariko felt all words die on her lips when she grabbed the envelope, and stared down at it. Oh my, it could not be! Mariko glanced at Natsumi for a second, almost as if she was expecting for her cousin to say something, but when she did not, Mariko opened the envelope, and gasped at what she saw.

_**Masato Hiro**_

_&_

_**Sawada Natsumi **_

_Are proud to invite you to…_

"You're getting married?!" Mariko blurred out as she looked up from the envelope, her eyes widened in surprise, and when her cousin nodded, she practically jumped to her feet. "Ah! Congrats! I'm so happy for you!"

Before she knew what she was doing, Mariko rushed to Natsumi's side, and pulled her into a strong hug while her cousin laughed warmly. Ryu, at Mariko's antics, found himself smirking as he continued to watch the two girls' interaction.

"Masato-san is the heir of a veterinarian hospital, ne?" Mariko asked as she broke the embrace, and stared at her cousin in the eye, "Oh, I can't wait to go there again!"

"Nice to know you're more interested in the puppies rather than in my wedding." Natsumi teased, but Mariko simply smacked her gently on the arm before straightening up. "But yes, he's the heir of the hospital. I'm going to start working with him soon, as well."

"Hey, what did Shin say? What does he think about seeing his little sister getting married?" Mariko asked as she continued standing next to her cousin, who simply smiled warmly at her question.

"Shin was very happy about it. He has known Hiro for a few years now, and he is quite happy for both of us." Natsumi started, "He even said that if father doesn't accept this, he will gladly lead me to the altar."

"My cousin is getting married!" Mariko exclaimed after a few seconds in silence, and Natsumi laughed once again as they hugged each other. It was then, though, that Natsumi gazed at Ryu, and smiled widely at him.

"Would you like to come? I'm sure Mariko would love to have you as her date."

"Ah, Natsumi-chan!" Mariko exclaimed as she let go of her cousin, and she quickly made her way back to the sofa, "Stop that, I have already told you that w—"

"Thank you for the invitation," Ryu interrupted Mariko without looking away from Natsumi, "And congratulations."

"Well, my job here is done." Natsumi started as she stood up from the armchair, and both Mariko and Ryu quickly mimicked her actions. "I'm very sorry for interrupting you two, but I guess Mariko now knows better than to leave the door unlocked."

"Aw, Natsumi…" Mariko moaned, slightly tired of feeling embarrassed, but her cousin simply giggled at her behaviour before bowing slightly in respect.

"I hope I'll see both of you soon," Natsumi continued as she straightened up, but before she turned around, she gazed at Ryu, and winked at him, "Please, take care of Mariko-chan for me."

"I'll walk you to the door," Mariko spoke up before Ryu had the chance to say something, and in a matter of minutes Natsumi was biding farewell before walking away. Mariko was just about to close the front door of the apartment, when she sensed someone behind her, and she quickly turned around.

"You and Hayato have the same habit," she started as she stared at Ryu at same time she closed the door, but the boy simply continued to watch her, "Please, stop sneaking up on me. I really don't want to have a heart attack so early in my life."

"I have to go now," Ryu said, ignoring the girl's comment, and Mariko blinked at his statement, "I know I was supposed to help you studying, but I need to go take care of something my mother asked me to do. I can return in a few hours."

"Oh, hum…alright, I don't want to cause you any sort of troubles." Mariko started slowly, not really sure of what to say, but she then decided that it would be better to smile. "You don't have to return if you don't want to. I'm quite capable of studying alone."

"I'll come back in two hours."

"Oh hum…okay, if you insist." Mariko said, her smile diminishing for a moment, and then she turned around in order to open the door again. "I'll make something so that we can eat a little as we study, okay?"

"I can bring something if you want," Ryu started as he walked towards the door, but Mariko shook her head as soon as he turned to her, "You need to focus on your exam. I don't want you wasting your time with snacks."

"Nonsense, it's not a problem." Mariko half-laughed as she rested a hand on Ryu's shoulder-blade, and gently pushed him forward, out of the door. "Just make sure you're back in two hours, and everything will be fine. And I promise I'll study before you come as well."

"Very well, see you later…" Ryu bid farewell at same time he nodded, and Mariko smiled lightly at him before waving a hand in a silent goodbye. It was only when Ryu started climbing down the stairs, though, that Mariko closed the door before resting her back against it.

Unconsciously, Mariko rested the tip of her fingers against her lips, and sighed as she recalled what would have happened if Natsumi had not showed up. Or at least, something that she hoped that would have happened.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and Mariko jumped in surprise before twirling around. Perhaps Natsumi or Ryu had forgotten something?

Quickly, Mariko rested a hand against the doorknob, and turned it around before opening the door. When she was just about to see who was on the other side, however, Mariko widened her eyes in horror when she saw something that resembled to a bat coming down towards her head, and then everything went dark.

**To Be Continued…**


	8. The Feelings We Share

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot.

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Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long to update this story, but my muses refused to work on this plot during a few days. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. Ah, I want to thank everyone who has been reading this story, but I must leave here a special thanks to those who have reviewed, and offered me some feedback. Thank you all!

Once again, I apologize for the delay.

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**Chapter 7**

_The Feelings We Share_

With a sigh, Kumiko sat down on her bed, her hands resting in-between her knees as she stared blankly at some random spot in front of her. The rest of the trip back to her house had been filled with lots of teasing and extremely embarrassing questions. She still did not know how she had actually managed not to kill her students right there on the spot, and she had also been quite surprised by the way Shin had handled everything.

After all, he had not spoken one single word ever since they had kissed.

And my, what a kiss!

As familiar sensations started conquering her body, Kumiko felt boiling blood rushing upwards, towards her cheeks while her body temperature gradually increased. Oh dear, that was so not the best moment to be thinking about that, but…

"_Shin…my answer is…My answer is no."_

Kumiko had not been answering Shin when those words stumbled out of her lips; she had been answering to herself. Kumiko was telling herself that it was time to admit that she could not live without Shin standing next to her.

The realization that she could lose him if she decided to flee again was what forced her to accept reality for what it was. It did not matter if she was older than him. It did not matter what people could think about them being together…all that mattered was the fact that Yamaguchi Kumiko had finally decided to be honest with herself, and admit that without Shin she was no one.

The only problem was that Kumiko forgot to tell Shin about that.

"Idiot…" Kumiko growled under her breath, and she swiftly lay down on the mattress, her eyes now locked with the ceiling of her bedroom. "I wonder what Grandpa would say if he found out. He'd probably say I'm out of my mind."

"May I inquire why I would say that?" a voice asked all of a sudden, and Kumiko widened her eyes in both surprise and shock before sitting up straight, and stare directly at the entrance of her bedroom.

"Gr-Grandpa!" Kumiko blurred out, causing her grandfather to send her a confused look before approaching her with quick yet quiet steps. "I hum…I was just…err…I…"

"Would you like to tell me what has been bothering you?" Ryuichiro questioned, and Kumiko bit her lower lip in nervousness before glancing down at her knees. "As long as you haven't broken anything like you used to do when you were little, I am sure I will not be mad at you."

"For some reason, I wish I had broken a vase or something." Kumiko mumbled under her breath, but when Ryuichiro raised an eyebrow, the math teacher forced herself to focus in the matter at hand. "Grandpa, I…I'm scared I may have done something I won't be able to mend."

"Does it have anything to do with your students?" Ryuichiro asked, and Kumiko shook her head. "Or does this have to do with Sawada Shin?"

"Grandpa!" Kumiko exclaimed, not expecting for her grandfather to understand what was going on so swiftly. "H-How did you know?"

"There's only one person I know that can trouble you this much." Ryuichiro pointed out, and even though she did not know why, Kumiko felt herself go red. "Has he finally forced you to admit what you really want?"

"E-Eh?!" Kumiko half-screamed, half-exclaimed as she stared wide-eyed at her grandfather, who immediately started laughing, "Don't tell me Sawada came to talk to you before we went to the beach. What on earth is wrong with that guy?"

"Kumiko, calm down, I've been aware of Sawada Shin's plans even before you two went to Africa." Ryuichiro explained, and the math teacher stared confusedly at him, "Sawada Shin is a very respectful young man, and he wanted to make sure I was alright with what he wanted to do before he invited you to go with him."

"What? So you…? All these years you knew that he…? You knew that I…?"

"Yes, I was aware that Sawada was planning to ask you to marry him." Ryuichiro interrupted his granddaughter's rambling, and Kumiko widened her eyes even more. "He wanted my blessing, which I gladly gave him. I must admit I was rather sad when you returned without him."

"Grandpa, how could you do that?"

"Kumiko, you must understand something." Ryuichiro started as he watched his granddaughter standing up from the bed, and start passing around. "One, if you want things to stay as they are, things will have to change, and two, like Jeanne Moreau once said, age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age."

"But we…Sawada and I…"

"You have always been a courageous and strong child," Ryuichiro continued, still sitting on the mattress, and Kumiko turned to him at same time she started moving around, "and you are still a very brave girl…when it comes to fights. Kumiko, you must stop running away from what will most likely be the best thing that ever happened in your life."

"But…are you really okay with the fact that I'm older than him?" Kumiko inquired as she walked towards her grandfather, and she quickly fell on her knees, and rested a hand on Ryuichiro's knees, "Because grandfather…even if I…even if I love him, don't you think Sawada should look for someone more close to his age?"

"Kumiko, there's a Russian proverb that says 'all ages are submissive to love'." Ryuichiro started as he moved his torso closer to his granddaughter, and he tenderly rested a hand on top of Kumiko's. "It doesn't matter who is older than whom, as long as you both work as a team, and keep supporting each other."

"Grandpa…"

"Besides, I cannot think of anyone better than Sawada Shin to be your husband." Ryuichiro added only to laugh when Kumiko turned red. "So stop trying to be so rational for the first time, Kumiko, and follow your heart. Like I told Sawada four years ago, you have my blessing, and I know that if you give it a try, the two of you will be quite happy."

"Grandpa…" Kumiko whispered, tears slowly blurring her vision, and before Ryuichiro could say something else, she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist. "Grandpa…I…thank you so much!"

"I just want you to be happy, Kumiko." Ryuichiro confessed as he rested his hands on his granddaughter's shoulders, a kind smile on his face. "Remember that."

"With your permission, Ojou!" a voice requested unexpectedly, and Kumiko raised her head from Ryuichiro's stomach only to see Tetsu appearing by the top of the stairs. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, but Sawad—"

"Kumiko!" a familiar voice interrupted Tetsu, and before the math teacher could process what was going on, Shin appeared inside her bedroom, panting as he did. "Kumiko, have you seen Mariko? Has she come to visit you?"

"Mariko-chan? No, she didn't come here, and I haven't talked to her in a while. Why?" Kumiko inquired as she slowly let go of her grandfather, and stood up from the floor. "Did something happen?"

"I went to her house, and the door was unlocked." Shin quickly described, as he stared at Kumiko with an extremely concerned look on his face, "When I walked in, I noticed that someone had trashed the whole place."

"What?" Kumiko gasped, and Ryuichiro carefully stood up as well, "Well, we can always contact Yabuki and Odagiri. I'm sure Mariko-chan is with them, so please, stay calm."

* * *

Muffled voices started invading the darkness that was feasting on her mind, and flickers of consciousness unhurriedly took control of her body. As the voices grew louder, the more aware she became of the pain on her head and right arm.

"…you'll see…"

A groan tried to escape from her throat, but it was quickly swallowed by the soreness that had harshly taken over all of her limbs. Her eyebrows started twitching as energy slowly returned to her flesh until she finally managed to open her eyes.

"…they'll come…"

Due to her blurred vision, Mariko was forced to blink her eyes repetitively until everything became clear. It was then that she managed to spot four men that were standing not too far from her, their backs turned to her as they continued talking.

"What if the woman shows up?" one of the guys asked, "You heard the rumours. What if she truly is th—?"

"Shut it; we have everything planned." a second man interrupted abruptly, "Even if she is who we think she is, we have nothing to fear. You know that very well, so stop being such a pain in the ass."

"You guys," a fifth voice spoke suddenly, and Mariko widened her eyes in horror. Her breath had gotten stuck on her throat as soon as the first word had been spoken, and now panic was consuming her body like fire, "shouldn't be talking about that, especially when someone is eavesdropping."

Nervously, Mariko moved her eyes, and terror took control of her body when she noticed the pair of brown eyes that were watching her. He was a very strong-looking man, with a menacing posture, but his eyes looked attentive, serious…like a deadly beast that is examining its target before showing its claws.

"Why, it's good to know you finally decided to join us," the man proceeded as he continued staring at Mariko, his lips curling into a smirk, "Trying to figure out what's going on, weren't you?"

All of a sudden, five fingers grasped the back of Mariko's shirt, pulling the girl upwards so that she was now sitting on the ground. Even though all she wanted was to look away, Mariko found it impossible due to the man's penetrating glare. It was almost as if he was enjoying taunting her.

"Man, she's about to pass out again." someone commented out of the blue, causing Mariko to glance to her side, and anxiety increased even more at the sight in front of her.

There were around thirty guys, all of them standing not too far from her. They all looked quite frightening, though only some of them were holding sticks or metal pipes. Heavens, what on earth was going on?

"You are the bait," the man behind Mariko clarified, almost as if he had read her mind, and the girl turned to him again, "You see, we need to thank some of your friends for some things they did a few years ago."

"M-My friends?" Mariko repeated, and the man nodded before standing up, hands resting inside his pants' pockets, "I-I don't understand. Who are you? What's going on?"

"How rude of me; my name is Takahiro Katsu." the man introduced himself before bending down, and Mariko involuntarily winced when he raised a hand to touch her wounded cheek, "And don't worry; the bastard that did this has already paid for it."

Leisurely, Katsu glanced at some random spot, and Mariko followed his eyes. At a corner of the warehouse, lying on the ground, was a young man, unconscious, and with various wounds all over his body, but especially on his face.

"No matter what, no one hits defenceless girls." Katsu explained as he looked at Mariko again, but the girl continued staring at the unconscious man, "And when he decided to punch you, I decided I should break his arm. I find that more than fair, don't you agree?"

"Why am I here?" Mariko asked the first thing that popped in her mind, her attention now focused on Katsu, "Why do you want my friends to come here? What have they done to you?"

"That's quite simple, actually." Katsu started in a controlled and deep tone, "Your dear friends sent my cousin to jail. It's only fair for me to thank them for it."

"Your…cousin?" Mariko repeated, a confused expression on her face, and Katsu nodded, "Who…?"

"I'm sure you're familiar with my cousin's name," Katsu interrupted, but Mariko simply continued to stare at him, with the same expression on her face, "Does the name Kudo ring any bell?"

* * *

"So, you're helping Mar studying, eh?" Hayato inquired as he walked his friend towards the entrance of the coffee-shop, and Ryu looked sideways at him. "Yeah, I know, I should go help her, but it wouldn't make much sense if I went now, would it? Besides, I'm sure she's happier that you're the one who's going to give her a hand."

"Don't you even dare to think about stupid things," Ryu warned, and Hayato instantaneously raised both his hands in the air.

"Hey, hey, keep your pants on, I was just saying it," he declared, but the corner of his lips quickly curled up into a smirk, "But c'mon, you can't say you aren't happy for being able to spend a few hours with her. It just sucks that she has to study for that exam, or else you'd be able to…"

"I don't know what happened during these past years for you to lose more brain cells, but I seriously don't want to know." Ryu interrupted Hayato's rambling, and his friend looked shocked at him. "Thank you for the cake, though, I'll give it to Mariko in your name."

"Oi, don't do that, just say you thought she'd like to eat it while she studies." Hayato corrected before resting a hand on Ryu's shoulder, "Honestly, you really need to be taught one thing or two about girls. It's a wonder how Mar ended up falling for you and not me."

"We're not going to have this conversation again." Ryu grunted, and Hayato smiled sheepishly at him, but before something else could be said, Hayato's cell-phone started ringing. After sending his friend a glance, and raise a hand silently indicating Ryu that he was to wait, Hayato grabbed his cell-phone.

"Hello?"

For a moment nothing happened, and Ryu took the opportunity to observe his friend's coffee-shop, but when he felt Hayato tense up he gazed at him. Hayato's once animated expression was slowly being replaced by one of wrath, much for Ryu's puzzlement.

"You're lying." Hayato suddenly hissed through his teeth, and Ryu blinked when he noticed his friend closing his left hand into a tight fist. "Let me talk to her! I won't believe in you if—" all of a sudden Hayato widened his eyes in horror, and shouted, "Mariko!"

"Mariko?" Ryu repeated in confusion, and Hayato abruptly slammed his cell-phone shut, looking even more livid than before. "What's going on? Was that Mariko?"

"Some bastard kidnapped Mariko!" Hayato practically shouted, and Ryu widened his eyes in shock. "They are waiting for us at the warehouse. He said that if we don't show up with the others, Mariko will pay."

"What the…? Wait, Hayato!" Ryu called out when his friend suddenly rushed out of the coffee-shop, and he promptly let go of the bag he had been holding before running after his former classmate. "Damn it!"

* * *

Shakily, Mariko rested her left hand on her right shoulder, and winced as pain erupted from it. Tears were already threatening to fall, but she refused cry in front of all those guys, who had burst in laughter when Katsu had unexpectedly twisted her arm behind her back.

And to think he had said he hated when people hurt vulnerable girls…

"I apologize for hurting you, but it felt as if your friend did not want to believe that you had been abducted." Katsu apologized, almost as if he had been reading her mind again, and Mariko glanced at him. "Hurting you was the only thing I could think of to prove him wrong."

"Pl-Please leave them alone." Mariko requested through a trembling voice, but Katsu simply put his cell-phone inside his back pocket before he stood up, since he had been kneeling the whole time. "Please…don't hurt them…"

"I don't make promises I know I will be unable to keep." Katsu retorted, and Mariko felt her breath get stuck on her throat when she noticed what he had strapped to his hip. What on earth could he be planning to do with a revolver? "Besides, it will all depend on how fast they are."

"But…they only tried to help your cousin." Mariko tried to explain, but when Katsu suddenly threw a strange look at her, she could not help but feel a shiver run down her spine.

"Help him, you say?" Katsu repeated, but Mariko did not reply as nervousness started to consume her already fatigued body, "How on earth do you help someone by throwing him to jail? Kudo never deserved to be thrown to jail! Not after everything he went through!"

His eyes, Mariko had noticed, had grown darker and more insane. It was frightening to notice how Kudo's current situation seemed to affect Katsu to the point of driving him mad. And the worst was that Mariko knew that her words would never convince Katsu that he was wrong.

Sighing, Mariko looked down at her lap, her left hand still pressed against her right shoulder as her limbs slowly went numb. The pain on her head was slowly increasing, and it was beginning to be quite difficult for her to stay focused; it was almost as if someone was using a harmer inside her head.

Due to her situation, Mariko was unable to keep track on time. Therefore, when footsteps started echoing throughout the whole warehouse, forcing her to raise her head, Mariko could not help but let out a faint groan. Hayato was standing close to the entrance of the warehouse, along with Ryu, Tsuchiya, Takeda and Kosuke.

And for a split of a second, Mariko's mind took her back to the night when her friends had faced Kudo.

"Ah, the special guests have arrived." Katsu greeted as he walked past Mariko, and approached the newcomers. "A tad late, but I'm sure I can think of something for you to repay your unpunctuality, but now the most important is that I have noticed we are two visitors short. I sure hope nothing happened to them."

"Where's Mariko?" Hayato inquired, ignoring Katsu's words, and the said girl tried to rise from the floor only to bit her lower lip when pain erupted from her arm and head. "What have you done to her?"

"Calm down, she's fine." Katsu replied as he raised both his hands slightly in the air, "A little beaten up, but don't worry, the one who hurt her has already been punished. I also apologized to her for having to hurt her when you accused me of being lying."

"Where is she?" Hayato repeated, and Katsu smiled at them before he silently stepped to his side. This way, the five boys could look ahead, and spot Mariko sitting on her legs, on the floor, surrounded by Katsu's gang.

"Mariko…" Ryu whispered when his eyes met the girl's, and he quickly took in the wound on her left temple, and the way she was holding her shoulder. Then, he gazed at Katsu. "We're here, so let her go."

"That is a tempting offer, but I must decline." Katsu started, and the five boys slowly closed their hands into tight fists. "The big fish hasn't arrived yet, and while it doesn't, I won't release the bait. She will stay here until I say so."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hayato practically yelled, not bothering to hide his temper, and Ryu glanced at him. That was not good, if Hayato did not restrain himself, they would end up doing something that would most likely end up in tragedy.

"Are the delayed visitors on their way?" Katsu inquired, ignoring Hayato's antics, and Ryu immediately turned to him.

"Why are you so interested in Yankumi and Sawada-san?" he asked in his controlled tone, and Katsu looked at him, "You have called Hayato, saying that we had to come here, or you'd hurt Mariko. However, even with us here, you still don't seem happy. Which one do you want? Yankumi or Sawada-san?"

"I want all of you." Katsu answered, a smirk appearing on his face, and he suddenly turned around, and walked towards Mariko. "Your teacher and her boyfriend better appear soon, though. If they don't, I'll break one of her fingers every five minutes. So you better all pray that they will get here soon, or I'll be forced to do something I really don't feel like doing."

**To Be Continued…**


	9. In Pain We Grow Stronger

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing.

* * *

Alright, the new chapter is out. I really hope you guys enjoy it. I was really surprised with your reactions towards Katsu. The end of this story is now closer than it was before, and I really hope you like the ideas that popped in my mind. Thanks everyone for all of your support!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_In Pain We Grow Stronger_

No one could explain what had happened during the past two hours. Regardless of what they would try to recall, all they would end up feeling was the adrenaline, the fretfulness, the rage, the horror, and the sorrow that had resulted from the last event they had been forced to go through.

And now the scent of a sterilized hallway was also going to be printed in their minds every time they tried to think about what had happened. Tension and nervousness was practically palpable in that hall as most members of one group of young adults continued sitting on the various chairs while a few others were standing, their backs against the walls as they impatiently waited for someone to talk to them.

Nurses and doctors would often rush past them, most of them not even glancing at the group, which only resulted in more apprehension and worry. All of them felt guilty about what was going on, and the more they thought about it, the more all of them wished to be the ones to be on the other side of the doors where a surgery was in progress.

Nervously, Yamaguchi Kumiko clasped her hands together as her arms continued resting on her trembling legs. Next to her, sitting expressionlessly on his chair, was Shin with the back of his head resting against the wall. The rest of the group looked extremely edgy and upset as well, and few of them occasionally tried to ask a nurse for information.

Information that just did not come…

"This is all my fault." Kumiko whispered as she struggled with herself not to let the tears that had started blurring her vision fall. In a failed attempt to hide her sadness, Kumiko buried her head in her hands. "This is all my fault."

Some of her students glanced her way before looking in other direction. Although they had not uttered a word, the truth was they were blaming themselves as well. Things could have turned out differently, had they decided to do everything properly. However, their wish to be the ones to be the heroes of the night had ended up ruining everything.

They could all remember perfectly the moment when both Kumiko and Shin had rushed inside the warehouse. Katsu had been about to snap one of Mariko's fingers, although he had repetitively said that he did not want to do it. At the sight of the two oldest adults, Katsu had immediately discarded Mariko, and smirked at them.

It had been then that everyone had understood that Katsu had been after Kumiko the whole time, and that Mariko had simply been the easiest person he could use as bait.

"_You, Yamaguchi Kumiko…it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I have been trying to contact you for quite some time. Unlike most people, I have not forgotten what you did while you were still teaching in Shirokin. Just like I haven't forgotten what you did to my cousin."_

After saying those words, Katsu had ordered his friends to attack Kumiko and her students. The only ones who did not engage in that fight had been Katsu himself, who had spent all that time observing Kumiko as she fought, and Mariko, who had been forced to watch everything from the floor.

That until Katsu had decided that it was time to face Kumiko in a one-to-one fight.

And from that moment on, all they could remember was the dance of death between the math teacher and the avenger. Apparently, Katsu did know a few things about fights, because the waltz between him and Kumiko went on for almost fifteen minutes. During that time Kumiko had tried to reason with the young man, saying that Kudo had been arrested not because of her but because of what he had done in the past.

And that had been when the real nightmare started.

"_If I cannot have my cousin back, then I will make you go through the most painful experience ever; to have to deal with guilt for the rest of your life."_

And it had been then that the sound of a gunshot had echoed throughout the whole warehouse.

_"Mariko!" Hayato cried out, and everyone turned to their sides in time to see the girl falling on the ground, blood following her unresponsive form. "Mariko, get up!"_

_"Mariko!" Shin shouted before punching a guy that had approached him from his side, and moments later he twirled around, and kicked a second man, who had tried to attack him from behind. Not even once did his eyes abandon his cousin's body as rage started to consume his soul._

_"M-Mariko…" Ryu stuttered, ignoring the metallic taste in his mouth, and he forced himself to start crawling towards the fallen girl. "Damn it…no…"_

_"Ma-Mariko…" Kumiko stammered, her widened eyes locked with the girl that Hayato was now cradling in his arms. Blood was consuming the girl's clothes as drips of the same thick, crimson liquid created a pool underneath her._

_A sudden movement caused Kumiko to gaze to her side, but instead of seeing Katsu, all she saw was red._

_"You bastard!"_

_Without even blinking, Kumiko threw herself at every guy that was stupid enough to get on her way. All of her thoughts were focused on Katsu, who was staring back at her with laughing eyes. Yet, despite of the expression in his eyes, Katsu's face was blank, revealing how unaffected he was about what he had just done._

_"Katsu!!"_

_"Mariko, wake up!" Hayato practically begged as he continued shaking the girl he was holding against his chest, "Damn it! Wake up, you stupid girl!"_

_Unexpectedly, two fingers were leaned against Mariko's neck, and Hayato looked up only to notice that it was Shin. The older man would probably look composed to the rest of the world, but Hayato could easily see the worry and anxiety reflected in Shin's dark orbs._

_"She's alive, but we need to take her to a hospital immediately." Shin declared, but a loud cry close followed by the sound of bones cracking suddenly echoed through the air. "Shit, this is getting out of control."_

_Without looking away from Mariko, Shin took something from his back pocket, and threw it at Hayato. As he closed his hands into tight fists, Shin finally tore his eyes away from his cousin, and turned around only to widen his eyes at the scene in front of him._

_Scattered throughout the warehouse, was every element of the gang they had been fighting against, beaten up, while some were inclusively unconscious. Kumiko, who looked fine despite of the homicidal expression on her face, was currently holding Katsu by the neck with both her hands._

_Shin did not know how that had happened, but he knew he had to stop it before that ended up in a slaughter._

_"Kumiko!" Shin exclaimed as he rushed towards the heir of the Oedo Family, but when Kumiko did not even glance at him, Shin knew he had to come up with a way to have her attention. "Kumiko, Mariko is alive, but we have to take her to the hospital right away."_

_"If this bastard hadn't shot her, we wouldn't have to take Mariko anywhere but home!" Kumiko practically yelled as she increased her grip on Katsu's neck. "He deserves to die!"_

_"You know very well you can't kill him. Let him go." Shin started, slowly losing his patience. "Yabuki has just called the police. They'll be here any minute, so let him go."_

_"No! He deserves to die!" Kumiko shouted as she closed her eyes tightly, not releasing Katsu's neck. "How can you be like that? Your cousin just got shot!"_

_"Kumiko, let him go,**now**." Shin ordered suddenly in a strong voice, the sound of sirens echoing from outside. When he noticed that Kumiko was not going to listen to him, Shin decided to act on instinct, and do the only thing he could think of._

_"Kumiko, I want to beat him up until I no longer can raise my arm," Shin whispered into Kumiko's ears as he wrapped his arms around the math teacher's torso, his hands resting on her wrists. "But it will be better if he goes to jail. I know he'll stay there for quite some time, so let him go."_

_For what resembled to an eternity, they just stood on that position, Kumiko's breathing coming out irregularly. Shin continued pressing his chest against the young woman's back, his fingers now wrapped around her wrists, silently indicating that it was time for her to release Katsu._

_"Ah!" Kumiko cried out suddenly, and at same time policemen rushed inside the warehouse, the math teacher pushed Shin off her, "You bastard!!"_

_"Kumiko!" Shin yelled as he watched the woman release Katsu, only to raise her fist in order to punch him. When her knuckles were just mere millimetres away from Katu's nose, however, Kumiko stopped her movements, her face covered by her hair._

_"Despicable." she started in a murmur, completely oblivious of the fact that the police had just entered inside the warehouse, and that they were arresting every member of Katsu's gang. "Kudo's cousin, you said? You are far worse than him. At least Kudo had the dignity to admit that he had been wrong, and on top of that, he did not shot anyone."_

_Instead of replying, Katsu just continued staring at Kumiko's face for a long time, his face showing no regret. Unhurriedly, Kumiko raised her head, revealing her teary eyes._

_"In jail you'll see how terrifying the world can be."_

_"Mariko!" a voice shouted all of a sudden, and Kumiko twirled around only to gasp at the sight in front of her. Ryu was now the one holding Mariko against him while Hayato tried to stop the blood by pressing his jacket against her wound. Even from far, Kumiko could notice how Mariko's skin was becoming paler, her head dangling on Ryu's shoulder as the boy tried to wake her up._

_Seconds later, the paramedics arrived._

"If I hadn't been so stupid…" Kumiko whispered as she recalled what had happened at the warehouse, and Shin eventually looked sideways at her. "I'm so stupid…I couldn't stop thinking about wanting to kill Katsu while Mariko-chan…"

"Idiot," Shin suddenly mumbled under his breath, and Kumiko looked at him for a second before lowering her gaze. "Stop crying, that's not going to help Mariko."

Kumiko closed her eyes at those words, struggling to stop her tears from rolling down her slightly pink cheeks. She had been trying to keep a strong façade, but now that they were all waiting for news to arrive she just could not help but give in to agony bit by bit.

"Besides, it's not only your fault." Takeda pointed out abruptly as he continued sitting on a chair, Tsuchiya and Keita sitting next to him, with solemn expressions on their faces. "We should have tried to do something as well."

At those words, Hayato glanced at Ryu, who was leaning against the wall next to him. Ever since they had left the warehouse that his best friend had not uttered a word. Instead, Ryu had managed to convince the paramedics to let him enter in the ambulance along with Shin, and now he was staring vacantly at some random point in front of him.

They did not need a genius to know what turmoil had conquered his thoughts.

"Sawada Shin?"

At the voice, everyone looked to their side only to stand up as soon as they realized that it was a doctor. As he got up from his seat, Shin nodded, silently indicating that he was the person in question, and the doctor approached him.

"How's Mariko?"

"As you know, she's in an emergency surgery at the moment." the doctor started to explain, a tad too calmly for Kumiko's opinion. "She sustained internal injuries, but the most important is that we must remove the bullet that lodged on her shoulder."

"Internal…injuries?" Kumiko repeated, and the doctor glanced at her before nodding. Then, before someone could stop her, she walked towards the doctor, and grabbed him by the collar of his coat. "You have to save her! Please, save her!"

"Kumiko," Shin hissed as he grabbed the math teacher by the arms, and stared at her right in the eye. "Stop it. Pull yourself together."

"The doctors and staff are doing their best." the doctor proceeded as he looked from Kumiko to Shin, "And I believe the surgeon will be out in a few minutes. When he appears, you may ask him everything you want."

As a reaction to those words, the red light that indicated that a surgery was taking place was turned off, and everyone looked at the closed doors. The sound of nervous heartbeats could almost be heard, echoing through that quiet hallway as everyone waited for something to happen.

And then the doors were opened…

* * *

"How can you be so calm?"

Shin raised his eyes from his knees at the question, and he turned his head to his side until his orbs fell on Kumiko's unmoving form. She had refused to sit down after the surgeon had walked away, and she was now standing close to a window, staring outside with a forlorn expression on her face.

"Why aren't you screaming? Why aren't you crying?" Kumiko persisted to ask, but Shin simply continued to stare at her with a serene expression on his face. "Why aren't you demanding to go see your cousin? Why aren't you blaming me for what happened to her?"

"You heard what the surgeon said." Shin started, his voice smooth and controlled, "Mariko's unconscious, but fine, and the surgery was a success. Her condition is stable, although they have to monitor her until she wakes up. So, stop taking all the blame; that has always been a bad habit of yours."

"But still…"

"Mariko getting shot was _not_ your fault." Shin stressed out suddenly as he looked at the wall in front of him, and Kumiko closed her lips. "You are doing exactly what Katsu expected; you are dwelling in guilt. Mariko did not die; she's safe, regardless if she's hurt or not. So stop behaving as if you could have prevented everything from happening."

"Still, I—"

"You may be the fourth generation of the Oedo Family, but you are not super woman." Shin interrupted, and Kumiko finally noticed the way he was stressing the words. It was almost as if he was trying to keep himself in control. "What could you have done? Stop the bullet with a fist? Stop trying to find a reason to blame yourself over what happened!"

Abruptly, their eyes met, and Kumiko parted her lips to speak before she looked away. With an inaudible sigh, Shin focused his attention on the wall in front of him again, his arms now crossed against his chest. Tsuchiya, Takeda and Kosuke had left to go buy some drinks, and had yet to return.

Hayato and Ryu had decided to go find someone who could tell them more about Mariko's condition. Shin, however, knew that all they had wanted was to be alone, to think about what had occurred.

"Shin…" Kumiko called out after a few seconds in silence, but the young man did not tear his eyes away from the wall. "Have you told Mariko-chan's family about what has happened? Don't you think they should know about it?"

"I have tried to call them, but they didn't answer the phone." Shin started, and seconds later he glanced at the math teacher through the corner of his eyes. "I left them a message. I'm waiting for them to call me."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry about them, I'll handle it." Shin stated, and Kumiko blinked at his statement before looking away when she noticed that he was still watching her. "They probably won't come here, so you don't have to worry about facing them."

"They…won't come here?" Kumiko inquired confusedly, and Shin nodded. "Why? Wouldn't it be normal for them to come directly to the hospital after finding out that their daughter has been shot?"

"I thought you knew," Shin started, and Kumiko entitled her head slightly to the side, "Mariko's parents are in Portugal. They have been living there for the past decade; Mariko came to Japan because she wanted to study here."

"O-Oh…" Kumiko breathed out in understanding, "But still don't you think I should talk to them?"

"No, Mariko was under my supervision, so I'm the one who has to tell them about what happened." Shin cut her off, and Kumiko looked down. "Stop trying to deal with everything all by yourself."

Before Kumiko could say a word, Shin's cell-phone started ringing, and the young man immediately took it from inside his pocket. One quick glance at the screen was enough to tell him who was calling, and Shin's grip on the ringing object increased gradually.

He had yet to accept the call, and he already knew what was going to happen.

* * *

Silently, Hayato glanced at his best friend through the corner of his eyes before he let out a sigh, and crossed his arms against his chest. People were wandering up and down the hall where they were, occupying two chairs as they waited. Truth was that they did not know what they were waiting for, but they still did it, with an agonizing silence as a companion…

Hayato knew that Ryu was blaming himself about what had happened. He was blaming himself too. After all, if he had actually kept his word, and had showed up to help Mariko study; they would probably have no reason to be at the hospital at the moment. But for a stupid reason, Hayato had decided not to go, leaving his female best friend all by herself.

And just like him, Ryu was blaming himself from leaving Mariko. He should have never left…

"You know…it's not your fault." Hayato started as he stared at the ceiling, the back of his head leaning against the white wall. Silently, he took in a deep breath, only to mentally curse the germ-free scent that was surrounding him. "What happened…even if you had been with her, I'm sure t—"

"Don't finish that sentence." Ryu interrupted him without tearing his eyes off his hands, which were clasped together close to his knees, and Hayato looked at him. "I don't care about what you say. I know this is my fault, if I hadn't left…"

"Well, I'm to blame too, you know?" Hayato inquired, "If I had kept my word, and went to help her studying, I think things would have turned out differently."

"I was with her." Ryu continued, ignoring what his best friend had just said, "If I had stayed with her, instead of going out to do what my mother had told me…I could have prevented all this from happening."

"Ryu…"

Abruptly, Ryu stood up from the chair, his arms now resting on his sides as his hands were closed into fists. Wordlessly, Hayato watched as his friend's expression grew more serious, but before he could say something, Ryu turned his back to him.

"I'm leaving."

"What? You can't go!" Hayato exclaimed as he immediately got to his feet, "Damn it, Ryu, this isn't the time for you to dwell in remorse. Mariko needs you! You have to stay here! What if she wakes up, and wants to see you, and you're not here?"

"If she asks for me…" Ryu started in a low tone, and Hayato impatiently waited for him to continue, "Tell her that I'm sorry I wasn't there for her, and that I…"

"Ryu..."

"I'll talk to you later." the other young man finished, and ignoring the way Hayato was calling out his name, Ryu started walking away, hands still clenched into tight fists.

"Damn it, Ryu, you can't run away!" Hayato practically shouted as he watched his best friend turning around in a corner, and he huffed when Ryu disappeared from sight. With a growl, Hayato threw his arms in the air before sitting down on the chair he had once occupied.

How had things become so messed up?

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

_**cra-z-stephie**_ – I'm happy to know you liked Katsu, despite of his evil way of dealing with everything. I had lots of fun coming up with his personality. As for what's going to happen between Shin and Kumiko…we shall find about that in a close future. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for your constant support!

_**Faith Slays**_ – Hello! You know, I'm just happy to know you're enjoying this story. I hope you liked this chapter, and hey, thanks for everything!

_**Hunter Hatake and Neko Uchiha**_ – Thank you! I hope you keep enjoying this!

_**blueprincess16**_ – I guess that if you didn't like Katsu on the last chapter, you certainly don't like him now, neh?


	10. I Don't Want To Be Alone

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot.

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_**RenChu**_, _**Inirini**_, _**cra-z-stephie**_, _**AbortedNeurotic**_, _**blueprincess16**_, _**yumexxfuture mangakaxx**_, and all my faithful readers, to all of you I must apologize. This chapter is rather short, and it's definitely not the best one I have written so far. However, I promise the next one will be bigger, and will have more drama. Just please, forgive me for this bad chapter! (bows)

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**Chapter 9**

"_I don't want to be all alone, it's so bittersweet"_

(**KAT-TUN** – Precious One)

Shin sat down with a tired sigh before he buried his head on his hands. Fatigue was leisurely but indubitably conquering his body, and Shin could swear that a headache was going to start bothering him in a couple of hours.

Taking profit of the moment of silence, Shin closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He had succeeded in sending Kumiko's students home, except for Yabuki Hayato. That boy was determined to stay in the hospital, and he had even once told Shin that no one was going to be able to throw him out.

Kumiko was also determined to stay at the hospital, with them. She wanted to stay there until Mariko was awake, and Shin knew it was pointless to tell her to go home, and rest even if just for a couple of hours.

And to be quite frank, Shin had expected for Hayato and Kumiko to announce that they were staying with him no mater what. The other person Shin had expected to see was Odagiri Ryu, but apparently the boy had allowed for remorse to consume his thoughts, which resulted in his abrupt and silent departure.

"Here."

Shin raised his head at the word, and looked to his side only to see Hayato handing him a cup of coffee. As he nodded in an unspoken 'thank you', Shin grabbed the cup with a hand before raising it to his lips.

"Yankumi went to the bathroom again." Hayato stated as he sat down next to Shin, also holding a cup of coffee with his right hand. "And I don't know why, but I think she's probably crying…again."

"She has always been an emotional person." Shin agreed as he lowered his cup, and Hayato nodded mind-absently. "I'm sure you noticed that she tends to take all the guilt, and tries to deal with things all by herself. That's why she ends up crying, and trying to figure out what went wrong."

"I'm beginning to think that's what women do best." Hayato declared before he rested his back against his chair, "Mar also has the tendency of hiding her negative feelings from everyone. It doesn't matter if all she wants to do is cry; she always has a smile ready for you. It's irritating sometimes."

"Hmm, yes, but I understand her." Shin replied, and Hayato glanced sideways at him as the older man rested his elbows on his legs. "Kumiko is the type of person who wants to deal with everybody's problems, but ends up not knowing how to deal with her own. Mariko is the kind of person who wants to always be there for the ones she cares for, but doesn't like to speak her own thoughts in fear of bothering others."

"I guess that's why Mar and Ryu became friends so fast." Hayato mumbled, "Although I don't think Ryu deserves her friendship. That bastard prefers to run away to actually face the problem head on, and that's infuriating."

"The way he deals with things isn't the most appropriate one," Shin concurred with a nod, "however; it's the only way he knows. Like you, for instant; you prefer to do things hastily, without actually thinking about your actions."

"Are you calling me dense?"

"Not at all, I'm just trying to show you that people behave differently even when facing the same situations." Shin explained before turning his head so that he could look at the boy next to him, "The biggest problem we have to deal with at the moment is the fact that we're all struggling to deal with the guilt we're feeling towards what happened."

An uncomfortable silence fell on the hallway as Shin and Hayato looked in different directions, both pondering about what had just been said. It was true, one way or another, all of them were dwelling in guilt and remorse. No matter what they did or say, the sense of responsibility was still haunting them, and they knew it would never leave.

"Sawada-san?"

Shin raised his eyes at his name, but he stood up as soon as he noticed that it had been a doctor who had called for him. Hastily he made his way towards the older man, who did not take more than a couple of seconds to inform him that Mariko was awake.

"However, I will not permit more than one person in the room," the doctor continued, and Shin nodded in silent agreement. "You may stay with her for a few minutes, but no more. She still needs to rest, and she must not force her arm in any way. Do not allow her to move without assistance. A nurse shall go check on her in half an hour."

"Thank you," Shin thanked as he bowed in appreciation, and the doctor smiled faintly at him before bowing as well, and moments later he was already gone. Quickly, and as he straightened up, Shin glanced at his watch, and let out an inaudible sigh.

It was almost six in the morning.

"You can go check on her," Hayato informed all of a sudden, and Shin turned to his side in order to gaze at the younger man, "I'll tell Kumiko that Mariko is finally awake, and I'll text Ryu as well. Hopefully that guy will return as soon as he hears that Mar's fine."

A faint smile graced Shin's face at those words, and once again he nodded.

"Thank you."

* * *

Dark shades of colours were already painting the sky as a rather chilly wind kept blowing; caressing the long branches of the willow tree he had chosen as a refuge. The sun had yet to rise at the horizon, and few people could be seen wandering through the streets. Cars would occasionally cross the roads at full speed, but all that went unnoticed as he continued observing the dancing thin branches in front of him.

It was curious how he always seemed to go to that particular spot whenever he needed some peace. Although he had not been able to go to that park for the past years, he would always find himself thinking about it every time he ached for peace and serenity.

His mother had actually tried to call him a few times during the night, since he had failed to return home, but he had lacked the patience to talk to her. Rare were the times when he craved for loneliness, but when that aching started there was no point in trying to stop it.

Quickly, he raised his knees, and wrapped his arms around his legs, his eyes never leaving the swinging branches of the willow tree. He could still recall the day when he and Mariko had had their first honest conversation, and for a second he found himself wondering if the girl was going to show up there.

But then the weight of reality hit him, and Ryu uncomfortably recalled that the girl was currently lying on a hospital bed and all because he had been stupid and reckless. He knew Hayato was right; nothing would probably have prevented what had happened, but still, had he stayed with her…had he decided to be with her instead of going to do what his mother had asked him to…

If only he had listened to his heart rather than his mind…

Ryu leaned his forehead against his knees as he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. No matter what, he could not help but recall the moment when Mariko had been shot. The same image was flashing in his mind over and over again.

_"Mariko needs you! You have to stay here! What if she wakes up, and wants to see you, and you're not here?"_

Hayato was wrong; Mariko did not need him. The fact she was now lying on a hospital bed proved that much. She would be better off without him, not to mention that Ryu knew Hayato was not going to leave her side no matter what. It would be better if he stepped aside…

"Ah, here you are! I was told you're trying to kill yourself."

Ryu raised his head at that statement, and he looked to his side only to blink when he saw who it was. For a second, the two young men just stared at each other until Uchiyama let out a weary sigh, and approached Ryu.

"Do you want to tell me what on earth you're doing here when everyone's at the hospital?" Uchiyama inquired as he stopped a few feet away from Ryu, but the younger man simply looked away. "Listen, there's no point in dwelling in guilt now; you are needed at the hospital."

"I'm not needed anywhere." Ryu immediately corrected, and Uchiyama stood silent for a second. "She's better off without me around. Besides, what are you doing here?"

"Shin called, saying that Z's at the hospital, and that you had ran away." Uchiyama promptly explained, and Ryu had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Then, Shin told Yabuki to tell me to look for you. He was the one who said that you'd probably be here."

"Sorry, but like I said before, I'm not going." Ryu retorted as he focused his attention on the tree's branches again, and Uchiyama let out an exasperate sign before he walked towards the boy. Then, without any warning, he hit Ryu on top of his head with a closed fist.

"Listen, I didn't drag my ass off my bed just to see you feeling sorry for yourself." Uchiyama started, and Ryu looked at him a tad surprise by his language. "You are going to the hospital, and I don't care if that means I'll have to drag you all the way to do that. I'm not going to allow you to drown in self-pity when Z's waiting for you."

"I…"

"Will you just stop behaving like Shin and actually do something?" Uchiyama continued, and Ryu blinked at his harsh question. "Shin took years until he finally decided to admit that he not only likes Yankumi, but that he wants to stay with her as well. He almost lost her to a policeman. Do you want to lose your girl to your best friend?"

"What?" Ryu blurred out, and Uchiyama nodded before he crossed his arms against his chest. "Please, stop trying to change my mind. I can't go back to the hospital, but if you must know I prefer to know Mariko's with Hayato rather than with me."

"Heavens, you're an idiot." Uchiyama practically growled, but Ryu simply gazed at the tree's branches again. "Have you noticed that you're only thinking about yourself? Why don't you start thinking about what Z wants for a change? Yes, I agree, she'll be happy to see Hayato there with her, but she will love to see _you_."

"You're wrong."

"Do I have to do all the work around here?" Uchiyama asked, but before Ryu could even move, the older man suddenly grasped his arm, and forced him to stand up. "You are going to the hospital with me, and you better shut up. Do something useful once you get there or you'll regret it. Got it?"

"What choice do I have?" Ryu mumbled to himself, but he nodded as a reaction when he noticed the way Uchiyama was staring at him.

* * *

Noiselessly and a tad hesitantly, Kumiko walked through the door, her eyes glancing nervously at her surroundings before she was finally forced to close the door soundlessly behind her. There was only one bed inside that room, and the stillness inside those four walls was almost suffocating.

Quietly, Kumiko made her way towards the bed, and observed as the girl that was occupying it appeared to be asleep. Aside from her injured right arm that had been previously wrapped up in gypsum, there was only a bruise on the left side of her head. She looked fine, Kumiko rapidly noticed, and she mentally repeated those words in her mind.

She was fine. She was fine. Sawada Mariko was fine…

As she licked her lips in nervousness, Kumiko stopped beside the bed, and glanced down at Mariko's left hand. Cautiously, she rested her own hand over the girl's, and stared at Mariko's face when a faint groan echoed through the room. Kumiko silently watched as the girl stirred in her sleep until her eyelids unhurriedly opened, revealing a pair of tired eyes.

"Mariko-chan?" the math teacher called out in a whisper, but when the girl looked away from the ceiling to gaze at her, Kumiko smiled. "I'm so happy to see you're awake. How are you feeling? Do you want me to call the nurse?"

"Y-Yankumi-san…" Mariko stuttered in a hoarse voice, and the older woman nodded faintly in reply. Her eyes were slowly tearing up, but Kumiko refused to let her tears fall; she had to be strong. She had been strong just like Shin had told her!

"We missed you." Kumiko whispered not really sure about what to say as she caressed Mariko's hand with her thumb. "Everyone has been quite worried about you. Yabuki even refused to go home. He's really worried about you."

"Hayato?" Mariko repeated, and when Kumiko nodded in reply, the younger girl took a deep breath. "H-He's here? What about…what about Ryu?"

"Oh, Odagiri had to go home." Kumiko decided to say, but when she noticed the look on Mariko's face, she continued. "His mother called him; she was rather worried about everything that was going on, so he had to go home. I'm sure he'd prefer to stay here."

"O-Oh…"

Kumiko could not help but notice the disappointed tone in Mariko's voice, and for a second she could not help but curse Odagiri Ryu. It was true, they were all dealing with remorse the best way they could, but that did not change the fact that Ryu had pretty much run away from everything as fast as he could.

But it was also true that Kumiko simply did not have the courage to say that to Mariko.

"But you know, Shin said he contacted your parents." Kumiko decided to change the subject, her lips curling into a smile once again. "I don't think they'll be able to come though, but at least they know you're fine. Don't you agree?"

"Shin…contacted my parents?" Mariko repeated, a mask of bewilderment on her face. "He didn't say anything about that when he was here."

Oh no.

"Ah, that was probably because he was so happy to see you awake." Kumiko quickly said, but her reply sounded too rushed even to her own ears. "What do you think if we allow Yabuki to come here for a minute or two? He's really worried about you."

"Y-Yes, thank you."

"Okay, I'll tell him to come in right away!" Kumiko exclaimed, trying to sound cheerful. Then, after waving in goodbye, the math teacher made her way out of the room, and let out a deep breath as she approached Hayato. "Yabuki, you can go in."

"Eh?" the boy blurred out as he looked up from the empty cup he had been staring at, confusion written all over his face. "You're out already? I thought you wanted to stay with Mar for a while longer."

"No, it's alright, you can go in." Kumiko repeated as she waved a hand in dismiss, and it was then that she noticed something. "Where's Sawada?"

"Oh, he received a call, and said he had to go to the main entrance of the hospital." Hayato answered as he stood up from his seat, and Kumiko blinked. "He was looking rather anxious about something for some reason. But oh well, it's his business. Now tell me, how is she?"

"E-Eh?" Kumiko asked, but when Hayato raised an eyebrow, she quickly realized about whom he was referring to. "Oh, Mariko-chan is fine. I really thought she'd be worse; all those doctors should learn how to tell people that their friends aren't as bad as we think they are."

"Ah, that's great." Hayato answered as he handed Kumiko the empty cup, and the math teacher grabbed it in confusion. "I'll stay with Mar until Shin returns. Until then try not to do anything stupid."

"H-Hey!" Kumiko stuttered, but Hayato had already walked inside Mariko's room. As she let out an exhausted sigh, Kumiko stared down at the empty cup she was still holding before she decided to sit down on the seat Hayato had once occupied.

Before she could think of something to say, however, the sound of footsteps forced Kumiko to look to her side, and blink at what she saw. Walking towards her was Shin, who appeared to be engaged in a long conversation with a woman who had long, curly brown hair. She carried herself with pride, with her back straight while her pace was elegant. Even though the woman was absolutely beautiful with pale, flawless skin, Kumiko guessed she was in her late forties. Her deep and wise eyes revealed that much.

"…you must understand that this has to be done." Kumiko heard the woman said in a melodic voice, and Shin nodded in reply. "I don't want to do this either, but you know how your uncle is. If he says this must be done, then we cannot go against his wishes."

"I simply think it's foolish, that's all." Shin replied before he finally gazed at Kumiko, and he motioned for the math teacher to stand up with a hand. "Kumiko this is my aunt Ayaka, she is Mariko's mother."

Kumiko let out an inaudible gasp as she forced herself to bow in respect. That simply could not be good.

**To Be Continued…**


	11. You're Not All Alone Anymore

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot.

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Alright, I finally wrote another chapter for this story! I really hope you enjoy this! Sorry for taking so long!!!

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**Chapter 10**

"_You're not all alone anymore, you're not alone"_

(**KAT-TUN** – Precious One)

Many times had she seen one of her brightest students fretting over his friends' safety, and some had been the times when she watched him trying desperately to protect his family. However, this time, the feeling was different; she could not explain why, but it did feel different. He was upset, he was anxious…he was miserable, and he was angry.

There were so many emotions swimming in his dark pools that all she wanted was to dive in them, and bring him back to her. But it was also true that it was not her place to try to do something about what was going on. Regardless of what she thought that was a family problem…one that she did not understand entirely yet, but that she knew that was affecting him in many agonizing ways.

Even though she had stood in the hallway, staring at her hands, she could still hear his muffled voice as he heatedly replied to everything his composed aunt told him. She had heard him raise his voice many times in the past, but once again this time it felt different. It was almost as if he was fighting with all power he had to change something that could not be undone.

She wondered if she could do something without actually getting directly involved. It was curious, but for the first time in her life she felt as if she was not supposed to jump in, and try to take care of everything on her own…even though it was about a friend of hers that they were talking about.

"Oi! Yankumi!"

Kumiko raised her eyes at the voice, and she looked to her side only to see Uchiyama walking towards her, dragging an annoyed looking Ryu by the front of his vest. For a moment, she just watched as her former students got closer until she decided to stand up from the chair.

"What are you doing here?" Kumiko asked as Uchiyama stopped in front of her, a confused mask on her face, but the older man simply grinned at her. "And…you managed to bring Odagiri as well?"

"More like dragged…" Ryu mumbled under his breath, but before he could do something, Uchiyama unexpectedly wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer.

"I saw this guy at the park, and thought that it would be worth to bring him back." Uchiyama explained, and Kumiko tore her eyes away from Ryu to look at him. "Anyway, how's Z? Is she better? And by the way where's Shin?"

"Ah, Mariko-chan's alright; Yabuki is with her right now." Ryu looked away at that at same time he shoved his hands inside his pants pockets, and Uchiyama nodded in understanding. "As for Sawada…well, Mariko-chan's mother has arrived, and is currently talking to him."

"What? Z's parents are here?" Uchiyama repeated as he slowly widened his eyes in horror, and Kumiko nodded a bit unsurely, since she had not been expecting such a reaction. "Her father is here as well? Damn it…"

"No, no, only her mother came to the hospital." Kumiko corrected him as she raised her right hand slightly in the air, and she blinked when Uchiyama suddenly let out a sigh. "Hum…is it bad? For Mariko-chan's mother to be here, I mean?"

"Well, it certainly isn't good." Uchiyama replied, and Ryu glanced intriguingly at him while Kumiko frowned in puzzlement. "Yankumi, just make sure you support Shin on this one. He's going to need your support."

"Eh?"

"Oi, does any of you know where Sawada i—" Hayato stopped mid-sentence as he appeared behind Kumiko, his eyes locked with Ryu's dark orbs. After a short period in silence, the newcomer decided to speak again at same time he crossed his arms against his chest, "Oh, so you decided to come back, eh? You stupid bastard…"

"Ah, such a warm welcoming," Uchiyama commented out of the blue, but Hayato simply glared at him before he focused his attention on his best friend again. "Anyway, you just came from Z's room, right? How is she? Is she still awake?"

"Yeah, but she's growing tired. She'll probably be asleep by the time you enter in the room." Hayato answered without looking away from Ryu, who was looking to his right with a blank expression on his face. "She actually asked me to ask for her cousin, but I think we should let her sleep. She wasted all of her energy waiting for a bastard, who decided that it was easier to run away to actually stay around, and support her."

"Yabuki…" Kumiko hissed, aware of why her former student was speaking so viciously, "This is not the time to start fighting with your friend. We need to understand what's going on. Uchiyama, can you tell me why you looked so worried when I told you that Mariko-chan's mother was here?"

"I apologize, but I'm not the one who should tell you about that," the older man answered without delay, almost as if he had been expecting for Kumiko to ask that, and the math teacher let out a tired sigh. "I just hope things will end up well, that's all."

"Excuse me," a voice spoke all of a sudden, and Kumiko turned to her side only to see Mariko's mother standing right behind her, her posture correct and graceful like before. Without glancing at anyone, the woman walked past Kumiko, and made her way down the hall until she disappeared from sight.

"What a strange woman…"

"That's Mariko-chan's mother." Kumiko announced, and while Uchiyama just heaved a sigh, Hayato blinked, and Ryu turned around so that he could stare at the hall Ayaka had used to walk away. "Hey, where's Sawada?"

"I'm here." a tired voice answered, and Kumiko immediately turned around on her heels, and she let out an inaudible gasp at what she saw. He looked so worn out…like an exhausted child, who was struggling to not fall asleep…

"Okay, Yabuki, come to the cafeteria with me, and you," Uchiyama pointed a finger at Ryu, "ask someone where Z's bedroom is, and don't leave her side until one of us shows up. And don't you dare to come up with an excuse either."

Before someone could do or say something, Uchiyama motioned for Hayato to follow him with a hand while Ryu rolled his eyes. For Kumiko's surprise, however, Ryu did turn to her, and asked where Mariko was. Before she could answer, though, Shin stepped forward, and told him the number.

"He's not a bad kid." Shin stated as he watched Ryu making his way towards Mariko's bedroom, and Kumiko reflexively nodded before she focused her eyes on him. Not surprisingly, he stared back at her seconds later. "And forgive me for what I'm about to do, but please restrain yourself from hitting me."

"Wha—" all words died on her mouth as Shin unexpectedly pulled her closer to him before he rested his head on the crook of her neck. For a second, Kumiko simply stood frozen, her eyes widened in shock, but she snapped from her daze when a shiver run up her spine when she felt Shin's warm breath against her skin. "W-What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm just…tired…" Shin answered, and Kumiko blinked at his straightforward reply before she let out an inaudible groan. Cautiously, she raised her hands, but eventually decided that it would not hurt to embrace him, and she gently wrapped her arms around Shin's torso. "Let me rest for a second."

"A-Ah, it's okay, you can…use me as a pillow." Kumiko stuttered, but she mentally kicked herself at her words. He could use her as a pillow? What the heck….? "Err…I thought Ayaka-san would be interested in seeing Mariko-chan…"

When Shin did not respond, Kumiko unconsciously increased her grip, and rested her head against his shoulder as well. Apparently that was not the time for words, but for touches and glances that could lie, and say that everything was alright.

* * *

He had never expected her to wake up. He seriously had not, which was exactly why he had tried to caress her hand. Yet for some reason (or maybe it was faith laughing at him?) she had opened her eyes right when he had been about to reach out for her cheek as well; after all, there was no way he could ignore the bruise on her face.

And yet there they were; staring at each other right in the eye, his left hand still mid-way towards her cheek while his right hand was still resting over her own cold hand. It was too late to back-off; if he did, he knew she would think that he was simply trying to run away again if he moved backwards.

"Y-You're here…" Mariko said all of a sudden, and Ryu slowly dropped his left hand while he nodded. "You're not in trouble, are you? Yankumi-san told me your mother had called worried sick about you…"

"My…mother…?" Ryu repeated, and Mariko nodded faintly in reply, "Don't worry about it. I apologize for not being here when you woke up, I just…I knew Hayato would look after you in my stead, and I…well, I'm just glad you're alright."

"Did…did you see my mother?" Mariko asked abruptly, and Ryu blinked at the unexpected change of subject before nodding, "Oh…did she say anything to you?"

"No, she walked right past all of us, without saying a word." Ryu answered, and he looked down when he felt Mariko squeezing his hand delicately, and seconds later he looked at her again. "Mariko, I…I'm really sorry about all this. If I hadn't left…"

"Please…don't apologize." Mariko interrupted him, and once again Ryu stared at her in the eye, "Everything is alright now, I just…I just wish I could do something now…"

"What are you talking about?" Ryu inquired as he frowned, and he took in the way the girl's eyes were gradually growing reddish. Was she going to cry? "You just got shot! What else do you want to do other than to make sure you recover?"

"It's just that…I…" Mariko trailed off, and Ryu immediately let go off her hand when he noticed the single tear that was rolling down her left cheek.

"Why are you crying?" Ryu asked, not really sure about what he was supposed to do, but Mariko simply covered her eyes with her left hand. He really did not comprehend what was going on, but he sure did not like it. "Mariko…"

"I'm sorry, I…I don't even know why…I'm crying…" Mariko sobbed, and Ryu rested a hand on top of her head as he mentally debated with himself about what he was supposed to do. "I'm just…I just wished I could so something…"

"Mariko…" Ryu whispered as he continued to tap the girl on the head, and he bit his lower lip as he thought about what he should do. Silently, he sat down on the mattress, and lightly leaned against Mariko in a very awkward hug, "Just cry. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"D-Don't let me go…" Mariko sobbed, and Ryu widened his eyes slightly in surprise, but he continued to hold her as the girl now cried against his chest. "P-Please…d-don't let me go…n-not now…"

"Mariko…" Ryu muttered as he rested his chin on top of the girl's head, and he instinctively started running a hand through her curls. "I don't really understand what's going on, but I won't let you go. I promise."

On the meantime, Kumiko and Shin were occupying two chairs, their fingers still entwined as Shin rested the back of his head against the wall. Kumiko's eyes were widened in surprise, her mouth dropped in shock at what she had just been told. Mariko's father, like Shin's, worked for the government, and consequently was a very important figure. The fact that his daughter had almost died had caused for some things to start stumbling down the hill, and by looks of things, no one was going to be able to stop it.

"Don't you think we should tell Mariko-chan?" Kumiko finally decided to ask, but Shin simply stood on the same position, eyes closed, making it look as if he was sleeping. "Don't you think she deserves to know?"

"She already knows." Shin answered without opening his eyes, and Kumiko felt him increase his grip on her hand as their fingers continued entwined. "And even though I know you're thinking we should do something about this, the truth is that we cannot. This is out of our hands; I did all I could, but Aunt Ayaka is determined."

"But still, it's unfair!" Kumiko exclaimed outraged, and Shin eventually turned his head to her at same time he opened his eyes, "To do that without even talking to Mariko-chan! It's almost as if she's a toy! She has feelings too! Why can't you respect that?"

"Kumiko, this is something that cannot be changed." Shin repeated, and the math teacher closed her mouth at those harsh words. "I am not happy with this either, but I did everything I could. It has been decided, and all we can do is to accept the verdict."

"What if I talk to her?" Kumiko questioned, "What if I talk to Ayaka-san, and explain everything that happened to her? I'm sure if she understands that Mariko-chan was a victim in all this, she'll surely think otherwise."

"Kumiko, this time, don't do anything." Shin declared, and the young woman looked down, "I know you want to do this because you care for Mariko, but there is nothing we can do. I even told Aunt Ayaka that I would take care of everything, but she refused. We cannot change this."

"What's going on?" a voice inquired all of a sudden, and both Shin and Kumiko looked to their left only to see Uchiyama and Hayato approaching them. "What's up with this gloomy atmosphere? Did something happen while we were out?"

"Uchi…" was all Shin said, but when Uchiyama's joyful expression was taken over by a sombre one, Kumiko knew he had understood what had happened. Hayato, on the other hand, kept staring at the three older adults in confusion.

"I'm going to contact the others." Uchiyama announced as he took his cell-phone from his pants' pockets. "I'll let Mizuki know about all this as well. Expect us in an hour or so. On the meantime…are you going to talk to Z?"

"Yes, there's no point in trying to ignore the problem now." Shin answered as he stood up, and since he had not let go of her hand, Kumiko was forced to mimic his actions. "And since both Yabuki and Odagiri are here…well, I think this is the best moment for it."

"Excuse me, but can someone tell me what's going on around here?" Hayato decided to ask as he glanced at the three people standing in front of him, but no one dared to answer him. "I think I deserve to know what's going on; Mar is my friend as well."

"Yabuki, you shouldn't—"

"The situation is quite simple actually," Shin interrupted Kumiko as he turned to the young man, who gazed back at him, "Mariko's mother came here because they heard about what happened, and apparently they want to take Mariko back to Portugal."

* * *

Ryu did not know for how long they stood like that, but he was sure his shirt was already both soaked and wrinkled. After all, Mariko was grasping his vest with her left hand as she continued to cry, though her tears were gradually dissipating, leaving behind sniffles and occasional hiccups. He did not know when he had started rubbing her back either while Mariko kept her head resting against his shoulder, but since their position was everything but uncomfortable, Ryu guessed that it was better not to shift.

"Do you want to tell me why you started crying like that?" Ryu asked, not really sure about what he was supposed to do. He had never been good at pet-talk anyway. "I never saw you break down like this…"

"I-I'm s-sorry…" Mariko stammered against his neck, and Ryu decided it was better to ignore the shiver that run down his spine on that moment. "I just…I thought…I'm sorry…"

"Yes, I know you're sorry, but there's no need for that." Ryu retorted, and he moved backwards at same time he rested his hand on Mariko's left shoulder. Then, before he could stop himself, he raised his right hand, and started wiping the trail of tears on the girl's cheeks. "I don't understand what's going on, but you know that I'm here for you, right? Just…stop crying…"

"Ryu…" Mariko whispered, her eyes bloodshot from crying, but the boy simply gazed at her as he dropped his hand. "I'm sorry…when you told me my mum was here, I…" Mariko looked down, "Please…forget about what I told you…it was stupid of me…to say that…"

Ryu blinked at those words, but before he could part his lips to speak up, the door of the room was opened. Silently, Shin walked inside, close followed by both Kumiko and Hayato. The first one had an extremely solemn expression on his face while Kumiko looked anxious, and Hayato looked plain flabbergasted.

Ryu could feel that something was wrong, and when he felt Mariko reaching out for his hand, and squeeze it, he knew his gut was correct. But the question now was; what could have happened to cause such a worrying ambience?

"Mariko…" Shin spoke up, and Ryu glanced at the girl when he felt her tense up instantaneously, her grip on his hand increasing substantially. Her eyes, however, were locked with her cousin's dark orbs. "You know, don't you?"

"Yes…" the girl whispered after a short pause, but Ryu simply gazed from her to Shin before gazing at both Kumiko and Hayato, silently asking for one of them to tell him what was going on. "But…I don't want to…"

"I'm sorry, Mariko, but I did everything I could." Shin started, and the girl looked down. "They are really worried about what happened to you, and they didn't want to hear anything else. I even told Aunt I would look after you, but she refused it. I'm sorry."

"Oh…thank you for trying." Mariko thanked as she looked down, but when her eyes fell on her fingers entwined with Ryu's she took a deep breath. "Did mum tell you…the date?"

"As soon as the doctor says you're free to go, and well enough to travel." Shin answered straight away, and Ryu furrowed his eyebrows at those words before he glanced sideways at Mariko.

"To travel?" he repeated, and an uncomfortable silence followed his words. Then, Ryu turned to Mariko. "Where do you think you're going? There's still a long path ahead of you until you're back to normal, you know?"

"Odagiri," Kumiko called out in a somewhat saddened tone, and Ryu turned to her only to notice the cheerless expression on his former teacher's face, "sometimes we are forced to face traps that life prepares for us. It's our job to think of a way to overcome those problems, and to turn them into bridges."

"What…?"

"Mar, don't you want to be the one to tell him what's going on?" Hayato inquired all of a sudden, and Ryu gazed at his best friend in confusion before he turned his head in Mariko's direction.

Hesitantly Mariko raised her head, and gazed at Ryu before looking down at their joined hands.

"I'm sorry, Ryu…for making you promise you'd never left me go…" she started slowly, but Ryu simply continued staring at her, a frown on his face. "I shouldn't have said that, because…the reason why my mother came here…she…" Mariko paused for a second before she cautiously gazed at Ryu in the eye, "She came to Japan so that she can personally…take me back to Portugal."

Ryu's eyes widened at that, and a pregnant silence was all that followed the girl's words.

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

I want to leave here a special thanks to _**cra-z-stephie**_, _**AbortedNeurotic**_ and _**Rayne Hunter**_. Thank you for not giving up on me! Your support means a lot to me! Thank you!!!


	12. The Memories of Our Future

**Disclaimer: **_Gokusen _belongs to **Morimoto Kozueko**, which clearly shows that I own absolutely nothing. All I own is my own characters and the plot.

* * *

Alright people, I have a very important announcement to make! This is the _**last**_ chapter! Yes, you read it right; this is the last chapter of _Follow Our Memories. _I really loved writing this sequel and I am quite happy to know that all of my readers have enjoyed this trip (or at least, so I hope).

I really must thank all of you for sticking around, and I hope I haven't disappointed you.

Thank you for everything, guys, and good luck with your own writing.

Obrigada! (Thank You!)

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_The Memories of Our Future_

_"Dear Ryu,_

_It's amazing, isn't it? And to think some people were beginning to wonder if this day would ever come. I'm quite sure Uchi and Noda started betting about when this would finally happen…I wonder which one lost the bet…_

_Anyway, Shin actually told me about what he was planning to do. At the beginning I was quite happy, but then I started to wonder if he was going to be able to do what he wanted. When he called me a few days later…well, do I really need to say that I was beyond excited? I mean, my dearest cousin actually did it!_

_Oh, and speaking of success, Hayato called me yesterday. I can't believe he found himself a girlfriend! Took him long enough, don't you think? I was starting to think he was planning to stay single forever, but I'm so proud of him! Oh, but…don't tell him that or I'll never see the end of it._

_Okay, so enough about others. How are you going? I still can't believe you decided to become a photographer; the pictures you sent me of the ocean were absolutely breathtaking. I really, really loved them. Thank you! _

_I hope we can see each other again. It has been over a year since I've left Japan, and I really miss all of you. _

_Please, take care of yourself, and keep taking such awe-inspiring pictures._

_See you later!_

_Miss you lots,_

_Mariko."_

* * *

The day was lovely with a warm breeze dancing with the dark green leaves. The grass resembled to a never-ending ocean as it conquered all hills and corners of that place. Even the sun seemed to be shinning brighter than usual, its rays warm and smooth as they constantly pulled everyone into affectionate embraces.

That was indeed the perfect day for such an occasion to take place.

Everyone was already scattered around, surrounding the Shinto sanctuary. Laughter and conversations did not allow for peace to fully conquer the area, but no one cared about it; that was not the time for silence; it was time for excitement.

Women were dressed in gorgeous formal kimonos with outstanding and different shades of colours. Men, on the other hand, were wearing tuxedos, most of them also black while their ties brought colour to their outfits.

Everything was ready, and everyone was waiting…

"Oi, Shin! I can't believe you're actually wearing that!" Uchiyama exclaimed as he stared at his friend, and gazed at his outfit. Even though that was not the first time he was seeing Shin on that day, Uchiyama still could not help but be surprised at the montsuki haori hakama. But then again, it was all for the sake of love, was it not?

"What do you want this time?" Shin inquired as he stopped close to a tree, and rested a hand against its strong trunk. "Did something happen?"

"No, I just wanted to tell you that Minami has just arrived. Noda's talking to him." Uchiyama answered with a small shrug, but Shin simply continued staring at the trees in front of him. "Anyway, it's almost time; so don't wander off. I don't want to have Yankumi on my tail during the rest of the day."

"Yes, don't worry, I'll be right there." Shin answered before he looked over his shoulder, directly at Uchiyama, and a faint smile graced his face. "I worked too hard for this to work to run away now, so don't worry. I won't run away."

"Now, that's good to hear." Uchiyama laughed, "Oh, and Mizuki just called; they'll be here in a couple of minutes."

* * *

_"Mariko,_

_The wedding will happen this autumn, will it not? I guess we'll see each other then. Hayato was excited when he heard about your return to Japan, though he did a pitiful job trying to look like he didn't care. Oh, if I'm not mistaken, you asked for some pictures of the guys a week ago, so I'm sending some now. I included a picture where Hayato's girlfriend is, but don't let him find out. Her name is Madoka Hisano, by the way, and she's working as a waitress at Hayato's coffee-shop.  
_

_You mentioned my job, but how's yours going? I seriously don't know why you decided to become a Literature Teacher…_

_I guess we'll see each other in a few months. I'm sure everyone will be excited about your return._

_Have fun teaching,_

_Ryu"_

* * *

"You look absolutely gorgeous."

Yamaguchi Kumiko looked behind her at those words, and smiled embarrassedly as she watched her grandfather walking inside her bedroom. She had finally gotten dressed in her uchikake or wedding kimono, and was ready to go to the Shinto shrine.

"Grandpa…"

"Your parents are definitely glowing now." Ryuichiro stated as he walked towards his granddaughter, and rested his hands on her shoulders, "Like I am right now. I cannot explain how happy I am, and I constantly thank heavens for being alive to see this moment."

"Grandpa, I…" Kumiko stopped, her eyes already shimmering with tears, and a smile graced her features, "I cannot thank you enough for everything you did to me so far. I-I…I couldn't have asked for a better family…for a better grandfather…"

"And now you're about to open your wings, and finally abandon your home to create another." Ryuichiro replied still with a warm smile on his face, "However, never forget about your old grandfather and this place. You will always be welcomed here."

"How could I ever forget about you and everyone else?" Kumiko half-sobbed as she struggled not to let tears fall, and she suddenly wrapped her arms around her grandfather's torso, "Thank you. Thank you so much for everything…if you hadn't welcomed me after my parents died, I…"

"Kumiko, this is not the time to reminisce about the past." Ryuichiro interrupted her as he returned the hug, and Kumiko closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "This is time for you to raise your chin up, and welcome this new change in your life. I know you'll be in good hands. I know you couldn't have asked for a better man."

"Grandpa…"

"Excuse me, Ojou!" a voice exclaimed all of a sudden, and Kumiko let go of her grandfather to stare at the stairs that lead to her bedroom, and see Tetsu standing there. "Your companions have arrived. Shall I tell them to come in?"

"Yes, but…Tetsu!" Kumiko exclaimed right when the man was about to go down the stairs, and she went to his side as quickly as her kimono allowed her to. "Listen, I'm sorry for being unable to talk to you these last few days, but…I wanted to take the chance to thank you for everything. Thank you for watching over me all these years and for accepting the fact I won't become the next head of the Oedo Family."

"I just want you to be happy, Ojou." Tetsu answered with a short nod, and Kumiko smiled faintly at him. Then, before someone could move or even speak, the math teacher gave one step forward, and pulled the tall and strong man into a tight hug, "A-Ah, O-Ojou!"

"Please…take care of Grandpa for me." Kumiko whispered into Tetsu's ear as she continued to hug him, "And take care of yourself, alright?"

"Ojou, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to contact us." Tetsu replied in a low tone, and Kumiko smiled at those words before she gave one step backwards, lowering her arms as she did. "We'll always protect you."

"Thank you," Kumiko thanked still with the corner of her lips curled upwards, "Please, call the girls. I think it's about time we go to the sanctuary. I really don't want Sawada to glare at me for being five minutes late. That not to mention I don't want my girl friend's boyfriends to think I'm stealing the girls away or something."

* * *

_"Dear Ryu,_

_I finally bought my ticket to Japan. I put it next to my laptop, and I'm staring at it right now. I still cannot believe that my parents allowed me to go to Shin's wedding. I always thought they would either object or say that I was only to go if I took two or three bodyguards with me. And yet they not only allowed me to go, but they say that I can go alone. I'm so happy!_

_I wonder if you guys changed ever since the last time I saw you. It's true that I have the pictures you send me, but still, can you tell me if some of you changed? Is Kosuke-kun still working as a bartender? What about Tsuchi-kun? You never really told me if he managed to get that job at the Company. Oh, and what about Keita-kun? Last time we spoke about him, you told me he was planning to ask Maki-chan to marry him. Aw, I wish I could witness that moment. He's always so cute when he's nervous…_

_Oh, I guess there's really no point in asking about Hayato. His girlfriend is exactly the way I had imagined her. She looks like someone who can put Hayato back in his place with just one glare (laughs). She's quite beautiful too._

_…And what about you? How's everything going with your parents? I know I'm two weeks away from going to Japan, but I just can't help but wanting to know everything now. I hope you'll at least answer these questions regardless of how troublesome that may be._

_Oh, and if you see Yankumi-san, please let her know that I am dying to see her. The fact Shin accepted to do a traditional wedding is so awesome. _

_Well, it's getting late, and I still need to correct some tests. I hope everything is well._

_Take care of yourself._

_Miss you,_

_Mariko."_

* * *

A pair of hazel eyes was scanning the area, a pair of hands clenching and relaxing as seconds rolled by. She was feeling extremely anxious, and she knew she had every reason to be. So far, she had only met Yamaguchi Kumiko, Sawada Shin, Uchiyama Haruhiko and his girlfriend, Hiratsuka Mizuki.

She had yet to see the ones she was dying to embrace.

Nervously, Sawada Mariko looked down at her kimono, and blushed faintly at her clothing. She had actually arrived at Kumiko's house wearing a knee-length black skirt and a light blue blouse, but both Kumiko and Mizuki had refused to let her go to the wedding with those clothes. Instead, the two older women had forced Mariko to get dressed in a black kimono, which had light blue and white coloured waves at the bottom of the skirt and at the bottom of the sleeves.

Mariko actually felt a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable in it, but it was not as if she could go against the bride's wishes. Besides, when Shin had seen her, he had complimented her clothing, and that had caught Mariko completely off guard.

However, even though everyone had reassured her that she looked fine, Mariko still felt nervous. What would Yabuki Hayato think of her? Worse, what was Odagiri Ryu going to think of her, dressed in such a stylish and luxurious kimono?

Mariko felt as if she was about to pass out due to all that nervousness.

"Mar?"

The young woman felt her breath get caught on her throat when the familiar nickname reached her ears, and she immediately stopped fidgeting. Then, before she could even decide on what to do, someone appeared on her right side, and Mariko timidly moved her head to the side only to stare directly at Hayato's eyes.

"Holy crap, it's you!"

Oh dear, it _was_ Yabuki Hayato.

"A-Ah, hello Hay—" Mariko was cut off when the young man suddenly wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into a bear hug. For a second, Mariko was too gobsmacked to even blink, but when her brain finally processed what was going on, she raised her arms, and hugged Hayato back.

"Look at you! You're wearing a kimono!" Hayato exclaimed without breaking the hug, and Mariko felt her cheeks warming up at those words. "Wait until Ryu sees you! I bet he won't be able to keep his hands off you!"

Was that even supposed to be a good thing?

"It's nice seeing you too, Hayato." Mariko said as she tried to change the subject, and she gently moved backwards, silently indicating her friend that it was time to break the hug. "Is it just me, or you've grown taller?"

"Maybe it's you who's getting shorter?" Hayato asked back with a sly smile on his face, and Mariko smacked him on his arm as a reply, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Hey, I know you miss me, but watch out. What would Ryu think if he saw you touching me like that?"

"Oh, shut up."

"Mariko-chan?"

The said girl looked behind Hayato, and smiled widely when she saw Keita, Tsuchiya and Kosuke walking towards her. However, when she was just about to speak up, she saw someone emerging from behind Tsuchiya, and all thoughts abandoned her mind.

Physically he had not changed at all; he still had the same long hair, the same graceful walk, and his eyes still carried the mystery of his quiet soul…

"Hey! It's Mariko!" Tsuchiya pretty much shouted in happiness, and the girl let out a yelp in surprise when the three boys swiftly pulled her into a group hug. "Man, you look nice in that kimono!"

"I have to agree with him." Kosuke announced while Keita simply nodded in agreement, both of them carrying wide grins on their faces. "And I know for a fact that someone else missed you terribly."

After saying that, the three boys stepped to their sides so that Mariko and Ryu were now staring directly at each other.

"Ryu…"

"Mariko."

Silence…

"Oh! The cheerful reunion! I can even see the hearts flying around you!" Hayato exclaimed, sounding utterly cynical, and Mariko glanced at him before she gazed at Ryu again. Then, she lowered her eyes, her hands clasped in front of her legs. "Is this a happy reunion for you? Because for me it's a disappointment, and I'm sure the rest of the guys agree with me."

"Yep!" Keita agreed while both Tsuchiya and Kosuke eagerly nodded. Then, Keita walked to Mariko's side while Hayato went to Ryu's. "It's time for you guys to show us some love. And don't worry, we promise we won't tell Sawada-san and Yankumi about this."

Even though she wanted to ask what they were planning to do, Mariko allowed for Keita to start pushing her forward by resting both hands on her back. Hayato, on the other hand, was keeping Ryu on the same spot by keeping his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"And this is a hug." Hayato declared when Mariko was inches away from Ryu, Keita's hands still on her back. Before someone could move, Hayato pushed Ryu forward, causing the boy to stumble forward, and impulsively wrap his arms around Mariko, "And we leave the rest with you."

After saying those words, Hayato started running away, Keita, Tsuchiya and Kosuke mimicking his actions seconds later.

"Those idiots…" Ryu whispered, and Mariko felt a shiver run up her spine when she felt his warm breath tickling her ear. When she felt Ryu shift, she reflexively raised her arms, and wrapped them around the boy's torso, stopping him from breaking the embrace. "Mariko?"

"I…I…" Mariko stuttered as she rested her face against Ryu's shoulder, her hands grasping the back of his jacket. "I-I missed you…"

* * *

_"Mariko,_

_It's good to know that you'll be coming to Japan without having bodyguards watching your back. I'm glad your parents finally accepted that you're old enough to take care of yourself._

_I don't think I have reasons to answer your questions. You will be here in less than two weeks, but if you really must know, the answer is no. Everyone is pretty much the same; even though we're growing older, some of us seem to be stuck at the age of twenty. Also, as for Keita, yes, he did ask Maki to marry him, and apparently they are engaged now._

_As for me, don't worry; everything's alright. Hayato actually told them that you're coming back, and by looks of things, I will have to bring you here so that my mother can meet you. I'm sorry it's going to be troublesome, but after Hayato opened his big mouth, I simply could not come up with an excuse._

_I guess I'll be seeing you soon, but until then, make sure you don't go crazy with all those tests and works._

_Take care,_

_Ryu."_

* * *

It was simply astounding; she had never thought she would be as tranquil as she was. When she had walked out of the car, she truly believed her legs would be shaking so badly that she would be unable to stand. Instead, she walked out of the car with an exceptional composure, and she had approached the sanctuary with only Mizuki holding part of her kimono in order to help her move around.

She had talked to her guests with exquisite coolness, and even her movements were far more graceful than usual. When her friends had complimented her clothing, she had laughed, and when she had been informed that the wedding ceremony was about to start, she only felt butterflies in her stomach.

She did not even stumble when her eyes had fallen on Sawada Shin, but she did almost trip on her own two feet when she noticed what he was wearing. He looked absolutely breathtaking, and it had been with a blush on her face that she reached her side.

The smile he had on his face was all she needed to understand that he had noticed when she had almost fell on her face, but instead of saying something, he simply grasped her right hand, and entwined their fingers. Yamaguchi Kumiko was truly surprised with herself, and at same time grateful for not ruining the day with her…lack of sophistication.

She was aware of her grandfather's presence behind her, along with a silent Tetsu, an almost-crying Minoru, a weeping Kouzou and a touched Makoto. Her former students were behind her family, all of them standing proudly, and most of them smiling at the event...

Everyone was there with the exception of two young adults…Sawada Mariko and Odagiri Ryu.

"Don't worry." Shin whispered out of the blue, and Kumiko turned her head to look at him only to blink in surprise when she saw the content smile on his face.

And as usual he was right.

With a soft nod, Kumiko turned to the man in front of her, and paid attention to every single word that was uttered. It did not matter if Mariko and Ryu were not there, that was her moment…that was hers and Shin's moment, and nothing was going to ruin it.

Without thinking, Kumiko increased her grip on Shin's hand, oblivious of the wince that crossed the man's face at the strength of her grip. Yes, that was their moment, and she was going to record every second of it.

And if in the future you were ever to ask Yamaguchi Kumiko how long her wedding ceremony took to end, the math teacher would be unable to answer you. One side of her would ramble about the time it took for it to finally end, but the other side of her would complain that the ceremony ended too quickly for her own good.

And thus, instead of thinking about it, Kumiko simply turned to her side, and allowed Shin to grasp her left hand as he turned to her as well. Her heart was beating painfully against her chest, and for a second Kumiko wondered if Shin could hear it as he moved closer to her.

Her blood was rushing throughout her body at full speed, and the math teacher could feel her cheeks warming up as Shin tenderly entwined their fingers together again. He looked so collected, so at ease that Kumiko felt jealous of his ability to look composed all the time.

Was it possible that he was not nervous about what they were going to do?

"Kumiko…" Shin whispered, and the math teacher stared at him in the eye only to notice that the corner of his lips were still curled upwards, "Stop thinking."

Before Kumiko could say a word, Shin let go off her right hand, and grasped her chin while he lowered his face. Reflexively, Kumiko allowed for her eyelids to close shut as she waited for something to happen.

But the truth was that Kumiko was not ready for the electric shock that ran through her body when Shin's lips met hers. Warmth spread throughout her whole body, and Kumiko vaguely felt Shin letting go off her left hand in order to rest his on her hip, and gently pull her closer to him.

It was a tender and sweet kiss, impossible to compare with the one they had shared at the beach, and yet it was so much more powerful…so much more meaningful that when Shin broke it Kumiko could not help but whine for more.

"There will be more." Shin whispered to Kumiko's ear before he straightened his back up, and the teacher leisurely opened her eyes again only to stare at his dark orbs. "After all, you are now my wife."

"Wife…" Kumiko repeated mind absently, and Shin smirked at her dazed expression before he caressed her right cheek, "Does…does that mean you're my husband now?"

"Silly." was all Shin said in reply before he turned to their guests, his right hand now grasping Kumiko's, "Of course that means I'm your husband now. We just got married."

"We…we just got married…" Kumiko repeated again as she gave one step forward, her foot stepping on the bottom of her skirt. Consequently, and before someone, including Shin, could do something to aid her, Kumiko let out a yelp in surprise, and promptly fell on her face.

* * *

"It feels great to be back." Mariko confessed as she stared at the branches over her head, and she took a deep breath when a breeze blew from north, "I really missed Japan. I've always been interested in its culture and in its people, so when my parents allowed me to come here to study I was extremely excited."

As a smile graced her features, Mariko turned her head to the side so that she could gaze at silent boy, who was sitting next to her.

"I was really sad when I was forced to go back to Portugal after everything we went through. I really didn't have many opportunities to spend more time with you guys and…" Mariko paused for a second, "I just hope you allow me to spend these few days with you before I go back."

"So, you're going back…" Ryu mumbled, and Mariko slowly nodded in reply. "I guess I couldn't expect something else."

"It's not as if I want to, but I can't possibly stay to Japan this year. I can't leave my students behind like that." Mariko quickly answered, her right hand now half way towards Ryu's arm, "I-I…if I was given the chance, I would return to Japan, but…"

"You don't have any reasons to stay." Ryu finished, and he finally turned his head as well so that the two of them were staring at each other right in the eye. "I understand."

As soon as the two last words escaped from Ryu's lips, Mariko dropped her hand, and looked away. If she was not wearing a kimono, she would probably be hugging her knees by now; instead, she was forced to cross her arms against her chest.

"You don't have any reason to go to Portugal either." Mariko mumbled, not really believing that she was behaving like a child. However, it was true; Ryu was making it look as if she was the one who had to make all the sacrifices, when he had the capacity of going to Portugal as well once in a while.

"Mariko…"

"Why do you make it sound as if I'm the one who has to do everything?" the girl interrupted him at same time she turned her head towards him again. "Why do I have to be the one to let everything go, and come here? Why can't you go to Lisbon? You don't even have to go every month, but…but…"

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them, and Mariko felt tears blurring her vision. When Ryu refused to say a word, Mariko rested both her hands on the floor, and struggled to get up. When she finally managed to stand on her two feet, Mariko turned to Ryu, and almost smacked herself on the head when she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"This really isn't going to work out, is it?"

Without bothering to wait for a reply, Mariko turned around, and started walking away. After the first four steps, Mariko found it impossible to continue marching due to the two arms that suddenly wrapped around her waist, and stopped her from moving.

"We really suck at this, don't we?" Ryu asked as he rested his chin on Mariko's shoulder, his warm breath tickling the side of her face and neck, "I wonder what Hayato would say if he saw us fighting like this again."

"He would call us stupid." Mariko answered straight away, and Ryu chuckled at her words. "Please, let me go now."

"No."

Mariko felt a lump on her throat at that single word, and she looked down when she felt Ryu's grip increase substantially without hurting her. She really did not know for how long they stood like that, with her back leaning against Ryu's chest, his arms wrapped around her waist, but time did not really matter to them.

They had already lost so much of it…

"If I give you a reason," Ryu whispered, and Mariko felt a shiver run up her spine when she felt his lips touch her ear in a feather-like caress, "will you stay in Japan? Or shall I go to Portugal?"

"I…I-I guess it depends of…what you have to tell me." Mariko answered, feeling slightly self-conscious about what was going on between them. Timidly, she stared down at Ryu's hands that were resting against her obi and she nervously rested her hands on top of his. "W-What is that you have to tell me?"

"Stay with me."

Never, in her entire life, had Sawada Mariko expected such a straightforward answer. Ryu had never been an uncomplicated person, and thus no one had ever expected for him to be so direct and truthful with himself and with those around him.

She was so taken back by his invitation that it took Mariko a couple of minutes to recover.

"W-What?"

"Stay with me." Ryu repeated as he moved his head so that his forehead was now resting against Mariko's shoulder. "I don't mind going to Portugal, but…I want you to stay with me."

He had whispered the last sentence, but Mariko had still heard it, and her heart was now beating at an amazing speed against her rib cage. They were no longer children so that could not be a joke. In fact, Odagiri Ryu was too serious to even think about playing with such an important subject, but still…he was asking her to stay with him?

"Ryu, are…are you sure about what you're saying?" Mariko asked in a very low tone, her eyes still locked with their hands. "I-I mean…I'm sure you've meet many girls this past year, and I'm sure many of them are better than me. I-I just a Literature teacher, a-and I—"

Mariko was forced to shut up when Ryu suddenly twirled her around, so abruptly that she almost fell on him. Then, before she could comprehend what had happened, Ryu rested a hand underneath her chin, and pushed her head up so that they could stare at each other in the eye.

"I want you." he whispered, his eyes locked with Mariko's orbs, "I have no doubt about that, but the question is; what do you want?"

"Ryu, I…" Mariko closed her lips, and unconsciously rested her hands on Ryu's chest without breaking the eye-contact. He was serious about it, and she could see that reflected in his dark orbs. He wanted to be with her, regardless if that meant he would have to go to Portugal or not. "I-I…"

Her parents would understand her answer, would they not?

"I'm not going to repeat myself, if that's what you're wondering." Ryu commented all of a sudden, and Mariko let out a small laugh, her hands still resting against his chest. "So, what's your answer?"

Even if they did not comprehend her answer, nothing was going to change her mind. They had gone through so many things together…Ryu had taught her so many things that it was impossible for her to change the answer her heart was already screaming.

"I…I…" Mariko took a deep breath, and the corner of her lips curled upwards into a wide smile, "Of course! Yes! I want to be with you!"

Before she could stop herself, Mariko wrapped her arms around Ryu's shoulders, and hugged him. However, when Ryu was about to return the hug, Mariko gave one step backwards, but left her hands on his shoulders.

"However, I can't come to Japan now." she started, "I want to, but I really can't leave my students so abruptly. That not to mention that I have to talk to my parents, an—"

Unexpectedly, Ryu cupped her cheeks, and pulled Mariko into a kiss, subsequently interrupting her rambling.

"I understand." Ryu whispered after he broke the kiss, and once again he stared directly at Mariko in the eye, "We have to wait until school is over. But you are to come to Japan as soon as classes end."

"Of course," Mariko replied, but when she was about to hug Ryu again, someone cleared his throat.

"So, this is why you guys missed the ceremony." Hayato commented as he stood a few meters away from the couple, and while Ryu blinked, Mariko let out a gasp.

"Oh no! The ceremony! Shin is going to kill me!" she exclaimed before she turned to Ryu, "What are we going to do?"

"What about accompanying us to the wedding-breakfast?"

Mariko turned around at those words, and as soon as she realized who had spoken, she felt awkwardness conquer her whole body.

"Aniki, I'm so sorry!" she apologized as she walked to Shin's side before she looked at the woman standing next to him, "Yankumi-san, I didn't mean not to go to the ceremony. I just…we were just…"

"Sawada Shin," Ryu once again interrupted Mariko's rambling by approaching the older man, a solemn expression on his face, "I want to ask for your blessing."

"Ah! Ryu!" Mariko exclaimed, looking completely mortified, and while Hayato and the rest of the guys started cheering for them, Kumiko let out a loud laugh.

"Well it looks like we'll be having another wedding in our hands in a close future." the math teacher laughed before she gazed at Shin. "Do you have anything to say about it, Shin?"

"Yes, you break her heart, and I'll break your neck." Shin answered as he stared at Ryu, who simply nodded in understanding, and Mariko immediately turned to her cousin.

"Don't say that sort of things!"

"Psst, what do you guys think about all this?" Tsuchiya asked as he gazed at the rest of the boys around him, "Do you think those four will last?"

"Of course they are." Uchiyama answered, and Noda, Kumai and Minami nodded in agreement. "Yankumi and Shin were meant to be ever since the first time they met."

"And Mar and Ryu do deserve to be with each other." Hayato added with a smile, "And who knows? Maybe we'll have a little Kumiko or Shin among us in a close future."

"Oh dear…" everyone chorused before they looked at Kumiko, Shin, Ryu and Mariko, all of them smiling at what was happening in front of them.

It was indeed time to start creating new memories for the future.

_**FIM**_

I want to thank everyone for reading _Follow Our Memories. _I had lots of fun writing it, and who knows, maybe in the future, I'll post another _Gokusen_ story. Thank you everyone for your constant support and help!

See you later!!!

**02/12/08**


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